


Keeping Composure

by PalauMaggot



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Drowning, M/M, Torture, cursing, electric shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 16:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 32,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2436101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalauMaggot/pseuds/PalauMaggot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Assassins AU)<br/>Working for people who are dumb is a more than regular hazard of the job. Most assassins knew this. Hack was very aware of this but it is a fact of his life and he had come to terms with it. He just wanted to pay his nonexistent bills (being the best hacker in the business had its perks.) and get on with his life.</p><p>Meeting a rival was not on his to-do list, neither was actually going along and making an …acquaintance… in someone who was possibly just as dumb as everyone else. But really, when someone is super motivated there’s no telling what they aren’t willing to do to get what they want.</p><p>Feelings were also not on his to-do list. And damn it Hack did not have time for this creep; he was busy being the best hacker in the business (humbleness aside, it was true). And oh yeah, the ACS is not a fun group to get caught up in. Everyone knew that.</p><p>But damn it all to hell it just would be shaping up to be a ruthless year for the hacker.<br/>(James/Nathan centric, Kevin and Nazz are side characters but are in later chapters.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted from tumblr.  
> James Castellanos (Hack) belongs to tumblr user eyugho.  
> Nathan Kedd Goldberg belongs to tumblr user c2ndy2cid.  
> I do not own Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

The sound of typing on a computer was filling the silence of a dark room. A few different screens were illuminating the figure behind the keyboard as he watched the cameras for any sign of movement.

He usually did solo jobs but according to the contractor, this one needed a team. Hack didn’t really see the need but he wasn’t the one paying for the services.

The mahogany haired boy sighed through his nose at the level of incompetence that the other members of his team had showed when they were getting ready. He had made sure to tell them that he could only loop the cameras for a few minutes at most before it was noticed and investigated.

Hack had to make them stay and synchronize their watches so they knew when the cameras would stop playing back a recorded feed.

He watched as the last thirty seconds started to tick down and hoped that the nit-wits would remember to hide for a few seconds while he re-looped the feed.

Unfortunately, it was too much to ask of them.

Hack let out a frustrated groan, “Bloody morons!” He had to shut off the camera and then fix the recording, “FYI Intellectual lightweights, you were seen, so hurry it up.”

The ‘leader’s’ voice crackled back over the protected channel, “I thought that’s what having a hacker was for. So we _wouldn’t_ be seen.”

Hack rolled his eyes and flipped off the black screen, “It only works if you actually work together genius.” He set back up the loop and sighed, “I would say about five minutes to finish and get out. If the guards have half the smarts of a zebra, someone would have noticed that.”

“If you were better we wouldn’t have been seen.”

Hack’s eye twitched and closed his eyes to calm himself, “Yeah, well, you say tomato, I say fuck you.” This guy was so going to get it when they were done and paid. He turned off the communication and watched the screens again.

He played with the idea of setting off the alarms for a few moments but decided against it, seeing as he wanted to get paid for this job. Hack just figured, the next time this guy when into a public restroom he would get locked in for a few hours with a broken toilet.

A small smirk drifted onto his face and he let out a small chuckle, which was wiped off when he noticed another person in the facility.

He leaned forward and with a few taps on his keyboard he brought up the camera in that area. All he saw was one person, stealing the artifact that they needed to steal. “Fuck.”

In the back of his mind the ‘I told you it could be done with one guy’ was running around idly. He screen capped the image before sending it to his hard drive and radioing his team, “I’m setting off alarms. Get out now.”

He cut off the loud protests and set them off anyways. He would rather come back to get it then track someone down.

___

“What the hell was that?!”

Hack ignored the other’s outburst and went to his portable printer waiting for the picture to come out of it.

“We were so close to it and then you go and pull a stunt like that?!” The man crossed his arms and glared at the hacker.

Hack glared back and rolled his eyes, “We weren’t the only ones in the building. Someone else was after the artifact as well. And he was closer.” The printer spit out the paper and Hack picked it up and handed it over to the self-proclaimed leader, “If I didn’t set off the alarms then this guy would have it.”

The other two members of the squad peeked over the leader’s shoulders to get a look at the paper.

It showed a man with an almost jester-like outfit. The shoulders were a bit padded to look more pointed and striped as well as an asymmetrical front and black pants. To complete the look he had a mask that had two eye slots, shaped almost like he was always laughing.

While the rest of the team looked at the picture trying to identify the thief, Hack turned back to his screen where his own copy sat, opened on his desk-top.

He hadn’t even met the guy and he already pissed him off.

Brown eyes glared at the picture and then back to the rest of the group. The mystery man had made sure that Hack’s time with this team of dumbbells was extended.

And he was not a happy hacker.


	2. Chapter 2

Hack glared at the glowing screen in front of him. The contractor had told them to continue with the job. He thought that the fact that Hack had tripped the alarms on the unknown burglar that he wouldn’t come back.

Hack wasn’t too sure about that.

So here they were again attempting to steal this damn artifact from this damn company in the damn night when he could be out crippling a regime for fun or something.

Light brown eyes darted from screen to screen in order to keep a look out for the masked man. Hack wasn’t about to be taken by surprise again by this doof. He figured since no sensors were set off from the mystery man last time, that he had to have gone inside by a duct of some kind.

Hack got into the security system and pointed certain cameras towards all openings in the ceilings and waited for the other to show up.

Granted there was room for error since there wasn’t a camera in every room but he was able to account for those all too easily.

Hack wanted to personally go in and add his own touches to the security but that pretty much defeated the purpose of his actual job with the team of dumbasses.

Hack steered the team through the complex and paused when he saw one of the cameras flicker, “Hold up for a moment.”

He ignored the groans of annoyance and pulled up the video feed. There was the same guy. Hack was about to pull the plug again when he noticed that the man wasn’t stealing the artifact. It seemed like he was waiting.

Hack pressed the talk button again, “He’s back. But he’s not stealing it. It looks like he’s waiting for something.”

“Where is he? We’ll teach him a lesson.”

Brown eyes rolled to the ceiling of the van, “I highly doubt he’s an amateur.” He wanted to add on ‘ _Like yourself’_ but managed to keep a lid on himself, “But if you really want to test that theory then turn right up ahead, then make a left at the second door.”

Hack kept an eye on the mystery man as his team walked through the hallways towards him. ‘ _What do you have up your sleeve?_ ’ “He’s going to be on the right, as the door opens he’ll be behind it.”

He watched them slowly open the door and then the camera went offline, “SHIT.”

Hack went through a few more backdoor channels to see if he could pull up the feed again but was met with a few blocks. He heard grunting and cursing from the other side of the headsets and was finally able to bring a camera back online.

His eyes widened at the scene. The masked man was effortlessly dodging all of the attacks from the rest of his team and shooting back with his own. He was playing with them and it was obvious.

“He’s too advanced for your skill levels, get out of there, I’ll just trip the alarms again.” They didn’t reply. The chestnut haired boy clicked his tongue.

Now, talking back annoyed Hack but he could handle it easy, when they are outright ignoring him because of some inflated ego however, just pissed him off, “Alright fuck-tards. How about I just get all of your asses arrested.” He said to himself tripping the alarm system and locking them inside of the room.

Hack crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair as the fighting stopped and they tried to get out through the doors.

A small smile drifted across his face and he ignored the shouts of protest through the headset. Hack muted them and watched. He hated working with ingrates as much as the next person, but ingrates without many working brain cells were just a waste of his time.

Hack leaned forward when he noticed the masked man jump onto a table and up through a ceiling grate, unnoticed (of course) by his team, “Shitting hell.”

He signed and sat back again. He watched his team get apprehended and taken out in handcuffs. Hack doubted they’d get another job soon seeing as how they were so easily taken out. He was about to turn off his equipment when he saw a note taped to one of the cameras.

Hack enhanced the image before reading and quirked one of his eyebrows up, “What a cocky little bastard.” He screen capped the message before shutting off the feed and erasing his trail.

He had a contractor to call and most likely calm down. The fact that he hired three ding-dongs in the first place would be enough to make him mad. Hack just had to convince him that he would be able to take on this job by himself, after renegotiating the terms of course, which would be a walk in the park.

Hack smiled as he took out his phone and spun slowly in his chair, this was going to be fun.

‘ _Nice move babe, now stop being shy and come out from behind your computer screen_. ’


	3. Chapter 3

Hack was dressed in his field outfit for the job. His multi-vision goggles on their normal mode along with his wireless headset for communications and all of his portable hacking devices. He smirked to himself as he pressed the little red button on his goggles to switch them to thermal mode so he could see the guards.

Seeing as there was a second attempt to steal their product, they had beefed up security once again. Of course Hack was able to bypass all of the electronical upgrades, but the actual people were a different story. Not that he wouldn’t be able to take care of them, it’s just more effort on his part.

 Hack crawled through the duct, looking around the area for any heat signatures before slipping out of the small opening and into a closet. He took out his portable hacking device and his 500 GB flash drive that had some of his programs on it and hooked it up to the fuse box in the room.

He selected his fire protocol program and let the fire alarms go off throughout the building. Hack smiled to himself when he saw the red bodies start to walk out of the building through his goggles. He unplugged his device and quickly slid out of the closet to the now locked down room that had the artifact inside, he had estimated that he had about seven minutes before they came back.

He slid to a stop in front of the door and hooked up his device to hack the keypad. Hack typed away at it and before twenty seconds was up the doors opened.

Hack clicked his tongue in annoyance when he noticed there was an old fashioned locked safe in front of him. He could pick locks; it just took longer than hacking and was annoying. The boy put his backpack down next to the safe and took out his tools to start working.

Every fifteen seconds he glanced around to see if anyone was coming back and that had set him back the tiniest bit but he was still able to get the safe open. He glanced around the inside to see if there were any triggers before carefully picking up the artifact and easily placing it in his pack with a soft surrounding fabric.

To be honest it was more for his things than the artifact but the contractor didn’t need to know that.

Hack jolted up when the alarm changed, “Fuck.” He quickly put back on his bag and paused for a second when the lights turned off to press the little blue button on his goggles so that they were switched to night vision. He glanced around the room since it had resealed itself and then up to a vent. Hack allowed himself a small smirk before climbing up to get out.

He managed to close the grate again and let out an inaudible sigh when the doors opened for armed guards. Hack turned away from the grate and pulled out blueprints from his bag so he could navigate through the duct system to get out of the building.

Hack memorized the turns, put the blueprint away and started crawling through the metal duct but not before leaving a note for the other that was sure to come again to attempt to steal the product.

He was about halfway through before he stopped and switched his goggles to the thermal mode again. He noticed several people running in a panic from the missing artifact, but what he noticed was another person in the ducts. Hack smirked at his victory of stealing it before the other had noticed and only hoped that he would find the note that he had left for the mystery man.

Hack ignored his small urge to follow the other and left the building silently and unnoticed. Once he was a safe distance away he took off his goggles. He brought up the contractor’s number on his watch/minicomputer and called him.

He adjusted his head set and mic before talking, “I have it.”

Hack looked back at the compound while he was listening to his boss’s instructions on where to meet and idly wondered again about the identity of the masked man before affirming that he knew where the location was and hanging up.

___

A small piece of paper was held in a white gloved hand, ‘ _Guess you were too slow to see my real face **babe**._ ’

Lips behind the mask turned upwards in an amused smile and the man chuckled quietly. If this hacker turned out to be as good as he seemed, then they were for sure going to meet again, _‘Hopefully in person.’_

The masked man jumped from the tree he was hiding in and started walking towards his motorcycle that was hidden from view. This hacker was fun and the mystery man was contemplating on how he was going to catch him.

He supposed he could start with whoever starts flaunting that they have a certain hard to get item for sale.


	4. Chapter 4

Teal colored hair fell just out of reach of bright eyes that looked around the ball room. Everyone was dressed nicely and was shaking hands with each other and greeting people that they haven’t met.

Some might have been making business deals as well but no one said anything. After all this was a black market meeting.

The man walked over to the artifact that was on display, protected behind four walls of glass. The owner standing next to it walked forward and extended his hand, “I see you’ve taken an interest…” He left a silence at the end to get the name.

“Goldberg. And yes, I am actually quite curious on how you managed to get it.” The teal haired man placed his hands inside of his suit jacket pockets and smiled at the seller.

The man nodded, “It wasn’t easy, I can tell you that. I had to find just the right person for the job.” He looked back at his now pride and joy and smiled, “The best of the best I would say.”

Goldberg felt a small twitch of his eyebrow but kept his face pleasant, “And if someone was looking to hire the best of the best for a different job?”

The man looked back to him and tilted his head, “I’ll tell you now that his price is high for whatever you ask and he doesn’t particularly like face to face contact.”

“That’s fine, as long as he gets the job done I think it will all work out.”

The man nodded and took one of his business cards off of the table to write on the back, “Here is his email address, I had to contact it about three different times before he responded in affirmative. He likes to haggle.”

Goldberg smiled and took the card, “That’s no problem.” With that he started to walk away from the man’s small table. That was almost too easy.

“Oh, Mr. Goldberg, wait!”

He turned and politely stared to have the man continue.

“I forgot to mention that if you had any run ins with the polices or violations he won’t accept the job. No matter how much you offer to pay him.”

Goldberg tilted his head, “And what if I just lie?”

“He is called ‘Hack’ for a reason.”

“The Hack?” He was very intrigued now. Hack was very well known in any circuit of thievery. And he had quite the resume and no one knew what he looked like, most likely thanks to his general distrust of everyone, “Interesting.”

Goldberg nodded to the man and took his leave eyeing the card in his hands. He was sure that the gala would end up being searched soon from all of the stupid sellers who had the ideas to post on traceable devices.

All of the smart underground people knew that the second five minutes would be the prime time before leaving very discreetly and most often in different disguises.

Goldberg took off his suit and trashed it in the kitchen before exiting out the back door with a container of food that was on one of the tables. He knew that there was a delivery truck outside for the hotel and no one was the wiser when he put on a simple white hat to blend in with the casual uniform.

He put the container in the truck and waited until he heard some yelling from police before taking off the hat and slipping into the busy street.

It was almost too easy.

___

Hack sat behind his computer screen surfing through all of the random requests for his services. It always happened after a successful heist. More contractors would want to pay him for successful operations.

Hack always made sure that every IP address was traced back to the owner and matched all of the info that he already had on them, and when that came back clean he researched the object that they wanted.

If it was too easy he turned it down, (Unless of course they were stupid and offering a lot of money) and if it put himself in any danger of being found out he turned it down as well.

He was in the middle of turning another person down when another email came in. Hack sighed and skimmed it like all of the others but blinked and actually read it when the words, “Masked-man” showed up.

_Hack,_

_I am in dire need of your assistance if you were willing to give it. I need a certain item and unfortunately there is another wanting it as well. We both have the knowledge of the other going after it, but fortunately for me I know who he has recruited without his knowledge. It was some masked-man that had accepted his offer and claims to be the best there is. I know from the gala last night that you were the one who managed to successfully obtain a certain artifact and I believe that you are better that this other thief._

_Name your price and I will see to it that it will be transferred to the account of your choosing within the day._

Hack sat back in his chair and re-read the email. He was very interested but he still needed to run all of the background checks necessary for his own safety on the matter. He smirked to himself when everything came back clean and sent a reply message.

Facing off one on one against this mystery man was more that Hack would have hoped for. He really wanted to show him up again and more or less douse his credibility. Lucky for this Goldberg he was feeling very competitive.

_I accept._


	5. Chapter 5

Hack adjusted his goggles before scaling the building. He climbed up quietly and pulled himself over the ledge of the roof. The dark haired boy crouched across the rooftop and made his way over to the vent.

He had contacted Mr. Goldberg about price and if he had known when the other was going to try and steal the artifact. Unfortunately he didn’t and Hack wasn’t going to put off stealing the piece longer than necessary. He accepted the job immediately and researched the building layout. He was set.

There were a few variables that were up in the air. Because of the fact that Hack didn’t know when the masked man would come to try and retrieve the prize. He also didn’t know when the masked man was contracted either. Hack knew that the artifact hadn’t been stolen yet nor any attempts for that matter. There was still the fact that they might end up crossing paths tonight. (However small of a chance that was.)

Hack switched his goggles from night vision to heat vision and crawled through the vent. He knew there would be motion detecting lasers inside the room as well as a pressure sensitive floor.

He had to not trip a laser and not touch the floor.

Or

He could shut down the system for a “maintenance reboot” and be in and out in about five minutes without being caught on camera or leaving a trace.

Needless to say he went with his specialty. After all why make something harder than it had to be?

Hack blinked when he saw that there was no one guarding the artifact and immediately became wary. No matter how good people thought that their system was, no one ever left it unattended on purpose.

Just like before, he dropped into a closet and hooked up to the plug in the room. He felt a punch in his gut when nothing was online in the first place. A mantra of ‘ _Shit_.’ Was running through his head when he unplugged himself and looked around again.

Right then, he heard the door lock and looked up just in time to see the vent seal itself. ‘ _Automatic fucking-_ ’ He took a deep breath before hooking himself back up to the plug and looking for what caused it. Not finding anything he came to the conclusion that it was run on a separate server.

This time he voiced his concern.

“Shit.”

Laughter came through some sort of speaker in the room, “Well well, the infamous Hack trapped in a closet.”

Hack unplugged himself again and glanced around the room for any sort of camera, after coming up with nothing he looked for any sort of microphone as well.

“It was quite a fun time the first go ‘round with you, I have to say that I didn’t expect you to be so resourceful…”

Hack continued to be quiet. He knew that Goldberg had something to do with this trap. He could somewhat hear the voice on the other side of the door as well so it could only mean that the voice was coming out of all of the speakers in the building.

“But then I learned from the Gala that you were _the_ Hack, and I just had to meet you.”

Hack looked around the room more thoroughly and bit his bottom lip. There wasn’t anything he could really do. The security system was hooked up to a different server and he couldn’t get to it from inside of the closet.

“Aw, come on, talk to me…”

Hack rolled his eyes and thought for a few seconds that it was quiet for.

“I am your biggest fan.”

“Fucking creeper.” Hack replied and pressed against the door slightly to test its heaviness.

“AH! He speaks!”

Hack lightly tapped on the door when the masked man spoke again and grinned to himself when it wasn’t noticed. Good, the door wasn’t reinforced. But he had to figure out what else there would be on the outside of the door and to do that he had to stall.

Switching the mode on his goggles again he sighed audible and voiced his earlier assumption, “I can only assume that a Mr. Fucking Goldberg is in on this with you.”

A short laugh had Hack pause from his planning in slight confusion.

“You could say that.”

Dark eyes narrowed at the non-concrete answer but let it go, “So tell me, why are you my biggest fan?” He hooked back up to the plug and typed away at his portable device, only half paying attention. The voice and the owner of said voice gave off an annoying vibe.

Hack tuned out completely when he went through the mainframe of the building and brought up to see what was running on a different server. He smirked when he found out that only the closet and the hallway outside that had tweaks made to it.

“-All that and you’re pretty sexy too.”

Hack blinked and stared blankly at the screen. What the fuck.

He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the speaker for a few moments before settling on saying, “You don’t even know what I look like.”

Hack relaxed when a “True.” Answered him.

“But you have a sexy voice, and you can’t be that big if you’re able to fit through the vents so fast~ Plus, you’re smart. Like, uber smart. That’s sexy too.”

Hack rolled his eyes, “’Uber’ is not a fucking word, shithead.”

“And you have quite a potty mouth. I bet you talk dirty in bed…”

Hack felt a small heat on his cheeks and refrained to answer the voice, ‘ _Just concentrate on getting out_.’ He added his own program into the mainframe and then unhooked the device before placing it back in his bag. He took out his Smith  &Wesson and pointed it at the door where the lock would end up being.

“I just creeped you out didn’t I?”

Hack allowed himself a small smirk before pulling the trigger twice. He kicked the door open and quickly ran down the hallway to the end where there wasn’t any more chance of getting caught.

“Hey! Whoa, whoa, wait. You carry a gun!?”

Screens started sliding down, trying to capture him again but he ducked under the first two before sliding under the last. Hack stood up slowly, his gun in his hand before deciding not to take a vent out. He figured that the speakers were only in that area when it stayed quiet for a while. He did _not_ jump when he heard the voice again.

“I really hope I didn’t squish you with a door…”

Hack decided not to reply. He needed to get out of there.

“Then again, maybe if I did then I would be able to see you in person. Oh but you’d be covered in blood…hmmm. That would take away from the sexiness….”

Hack rolled his eyes again, and, recalling the blueprints in his mind he started walking out. His gun still ready just in case.

“Sometimes it sucks to be an assassin you know? You have to kill people and not feel anything. Even if you respected them a great deal. Wow, if I’m really talking to a dead body right now that would be a new low for me.”

Hack glanced around the corner and was almost to the exit when he stopped. If he remembered right, the area that the artifact was in was just around the other bend. He shrugged to himself and started towards that.

“Although, I have done some pretty stupid things… so maybe not a _new_ low…”

Hack easily retrieved the artifact (fake and made out of plastic.) and started heading out again.

“Just a low that I haven’t –oh wait, I have talked to a dead body before.”

How was this guy even an assassin? The hacker looked up to the speaker above the exit door and shot at it before heading out and away. He distinctly heard a loud squeal of “You’re alive!” from a different speaker before disappearing from the scene.

And here Hack thought that the masked man would be an interesting person.

Not an annoying prick.


	6. Chapter 6

Hack cursed loudly when he received another email from Nathan Goldberg. He just wouldn’t take a hint to leave him alone. They had come way to close to figuring out who he was and Hack didn’t like it one bit. He glared at the screen, debating whether or not to read it. (The last four he didn’t) After about two minutes he rolled his eyes and thought ‘What the hell.’

             _Hack,_

_I know we got off on the wrong foot with the masked man and all, but who could resist the temptation? No one really knows who you are! Everyone would jump at the chance of seeing your face and knowing it was you. Anyways I’m offering a job for you; I’ll pay you double what you would charge._

_Nathan Goldberg._

Hack quirked an eyebrow and sent a ‘ _No.’_ in reply. He didn’t need any more people looking in to him and finding out who he actually was. That would paint an even bigger target on his back than he already had. It would make things harder on himself if information like that got out. He was the most renowned hacker and had a ninety-nine percent turnover.

One mistake when he was early in his career kept it from being one hundred but Hack didn’t like to look on the past. He liked to learn from those stupid mistakes.

It was mostly the other guy’s fault anyways.

He rolled away from his computer and went back to cleaning his gun. While he was wiping out the barrel, his eyes strayed to his stock of food and he sighed. He needed to go out shopping.

“If there’s one thing I hate more than people its commonplace people.” Hack said to himself as he put his gun down and rubbed his eyes. He looked back at his stock as if by magic some more food would appear but none did.

He still had to go out shopping.

Hack packed up his gun before turning to his computer again. He stared at it and rolled his eyes when another message from Goldberg came in. Hack chose to ignore it and deal with it later after he got back.

He packed up his essentials before heading out of his home to brave the stupidity of the market people.

___

Hack more or less glared at everyone who had got in his way at the market. He hated people in general but everyone in the market was just asking to be stolen from. Open bags with their money hanging out or half dangling out of their pockets.

He played with the idea of stealing just to teach them a lesson but since he kept the money from when Goldberg had hired him in the first place he didn’t need it.

That and it was too easy, it would be boring.

He was waiting in line, idly thinking that he was surrounded by idiots when he heard it. He gave no indication besides blinking subtly and looking at the rack of candy, ‘No fucking way.’ He controlled his facial expressions and schooled them into indifference.

Hack knew that voice. He had been subject to it for a few unwanted minutes when he was trapped in a closet. He glanced back as if looking for something in order to get the man’s face.

Once he did he turned back around and smirked to himself. Hack was going to definitely not forget that bright hair color. He paid for all of his food and left to get back to his computer in order to ID him.

Unfortunately on his way back he noticed some thugs hanging around an alley way. Hack sighed to himself again and chose a different way back in order to avoid the trouble of beating up some stupid people. Sure it would release some of his stress but he needed to get to his computer and find out the name of the masked man. So then he could more or less ruin his life.

Taking about five minutes more than it would have Hack entered his home and went straight to the screen to pull up the cameras inside of the market. He got a still and started running it through his databases.

While that was running in the background he looked through his email again. He rolled his eyes at the two new emails from Goldberg begging for his assistance and was about to reply to him that he could go do something not exactly sanitary with himself when there was a light ‘ping’ from his computer.

Hack pulled up the other window and stared at the name. Since he was in his own home he let the shock show on his face.

It was a good thing he didn’t talk in that store. Otherwise his face would be out. Nathan fucking Goldberg was the masked fucking man.

Hack remembered what he had said when he was focusing on getting out of the room,

_“I can only assume that a Mr. Fucking Goldberg is in on this with you.”_

_A short laugh had Hack pause from his planning in slight confusion._

_“You could say that.”_

“That fucker.” Not only was he annoying and creepy but he was also cunning. Hack heard the warning of another email and switched tabs again. It was from Goldberg.

He wondered if the other assassin actually knew where he was and who he was for a few seconds and opened the message. It was short and to the point.

        _Fine, I’ll triple it._

Hack thought for a few minutes about it. He could totally delegate when and where. He could make sure that the other wouldn’t catch him or see him. He could probably pull off a job.

The hacker tapped his fingers lightly against his keyboard and sighed again, he was doing that a lot these days. He was probably going to regret it but he ended up accepting the job and asking for details, as well as outlining some rules about the job. These rules including not working with a certain masked man, which he knew would be ignored.

Hack smirked to himself and started researching his new job. This was going to be slightly complicated but probably fun.

Hopefully not a mistake.


	7. Chapter 7

Yes it was a mistake.

Hack really tried to make sure that Goldberg didn’t know when he was going to attempt to steal. He never specified a time. Then again, his stalker-like fan probably kept casing the joint to see if there were any changes made with anything.

Fucking creeper.

Hack was glad that he took extra precautions on it as well. He had dyed his hair to black from its natural color; he wore a half mask on the bottom of his face that filtered air and had in his own specially made different color contacts that were loosely based off of his goggles. Meaning he could change modes and have night and thermal vision.

As soon as he had dropped down into the room the lights went out. Which was no problem for him since his contacts automatically adjusted to the change.

He glanced quickly around as he took out his army knife and stopped looking when he saw the masked man. Hack quirked an eyebrow at Nathan before switching the grip of his knife to a more comfortable position. He took out his machete for his other hand as well.

“You’re not surprised.” Nathan said twirling one of his own knives around his fingers.

“Of course not.”

The masked man chucked, “Of course not.” He slid off the table he was sitting on slowly and shrugged. “I really don’t want to kill you, just see your face, that’s it.” He flipped back on the lights which made Hack blink at the sudden exposure again.

“You’re going through a lot of trouble for something that’s impossible.” Hack had the machete in his right hand and his knife in his left facing down and out. He kept the distance just in case Goldberg happened to be gifted at throwing knives. He didn’t really know much about the assassin in front of him. Only the person.

Nathan chuckled again and started to walk the perimeter of the room, keeping the same distance between the both of them while he moved, “Aw, come on Hack, nothing’s impossible.” He looked back to where he was sitting earlier, that was now evenly between them “Not as long as you put your mind to it.”

Hack glanced to the table and flinched away when the other threw his knife at a small bag. He automatically had his guard up, “What the fuck are you doing.”

Goldberg was staring at him with slightly narrowed eyed eyes, “You’re mask has a filtering on it doesn’t it.” More of a statement than a question.

Hack smirked even though the other couldn’t see it “Doesn’t yours?”

With that, the two assassins charged at each other. Hack noted that Goldberg had more knives stashed on his person that he was parrying and trying to land a blow with. Hack’s machete was a little big for this type of combat but he couldn’t just go on with his army knife either.

Sure in a pinch it would do but Goldberg was dual wielding so Hack felt the need to just in case. They were both on par with each other, able to keep up and block at the same pace.

What mattered here was stamina, and Hack was starting to run a little low on it. All the hours sitting in front of his computer without doing the outside work was starting to take its toll. He wasn’t as fit as Goldberg was.

He needed to throw Goldberg off. Hack needed a distraction or at least some kind of surprise. With that in mind he smiled to himself. Hack went for the mask and cut the tie that was holding it.

Hack jumped back a little ways and twirled the machete around to come down on the masked man’s head, “So tell me Goldberg.” He felt a bit of pride when he heard a hitch of breath and the mask fall off shortly after.

As he thought, Nathan had to block with both knives he was holding. Hack brought his army knife up and kept it at Nathan’s throat. Hack backed them up to the wall where he could hold him down better, “Why are you going through all of this trouble to see my face.” He asked with venom in his voice.

It was threatening. No one had ever come after Hack like this before. He didn’t know if Nathan was a part of some team that’s trying to get his face out there or if Goldberg was trying to blackmail him.

The gold eyes were shocked at first but then an easy smile came to his lips, “I’m just a curious bastard.”

Hack put a little bit more force against his machete and the knife, “Tell me, now. Or else you’ll be even more exposed to whatever was in that bag.”

Nathan swallowed as he looked into the seemingly blue eyes of the other, “It was only volatile for about 30 seconds anyways.” He smirked again, “I’m willing to bet that those aren’t your natural eyes are they?”

Hack forced more weight on the machete again, “And I’m willing to bet that you’re avoiding the question.” Hack ran on information. He had built his name on information and Goldberg was giving him none.

It was pissing him off.

“Listen shit-dick. I’m going to ask you one more time-” He was thrown off when he felt one of the other’s arms shift sideways.

Goldberg dropped one knife to grab onto Hack’s wrist that was holding the army knife against his neck and pushed the other arm with the machete up and away from his head in an arc. With Hack’s own knife, Nathan managed to slice part of Hack’s facemask away. Nathan twisted his arm around Hack’s and pulled the now surprised brunet more towards him.

Nathan smirked, “I was right.” He could feel the fast heartbeat of the hacker as he tried to figure a way to get out of his arms as well as the slight struggling.

Hack’s arms weren’t in any comfortable position. His face was now exposed and they were both at an impasse. Neither could move without the other letting go of something. At this point there was only one thing he could do, he glared. “Right about what?”

Nathan chuckled again, “You are pretty sexy.” With that he pulled the hacker more towards himself and pressed their lips together firmly.


	8. Chapter 8

Hack was wrapped up in a blanket glaring at his wall. He had lost track of time in his rage induced mindset and had been lying in his bed for a better part of an hour. After that _very_ unforeseen kiss, Hack had taken advantage of Goldberg’s sudden moment of relaxation and immediately punched him in the face.

The brunet had actually hurt his hand from the force of it but his adrenaline was high at the time and he didn’t notice.

Goldberg just sat up, holding the left side of his face and said “Worth it.” He kept smirking at the hacker all the while.

Hack felt heat crawling up from his neck, making its way to his face and left the room without knowing if it was from anger or embarrassment. Either way he didn’t particularly care. Hack was pretty sure it was anger.

He spent some time pacing angrily in front of his computer to help blow off some steam and after a while fell into his bed. Where he is located now, still seething in anger and a little bit of confusion.

What did Goldberg have to gain from kissing him? Hack brought a bit of the blanket up to cover his mouth as he thought. Absolutely nothing. No information, no data, no strategies, nothing! So why did he do it?

Sighing, Hack let his blanket fall as he sat up. He was exhausted and felt like ruining someone’s life. With that thought he got off of his bed and sat on his chair in front of his computer and pulled up a random name.

After tweaking with his money balances and putting a few charges of misdemeanors on him he closed out of the window and propped his head in his hand to stare at his desktop to think.

When he kept coming up with nothing he decided to go out for a walk to clear his head. He needed to get into a bit better shape anyways. Can’t have his stamina run out so easily next time.

Hack breezed out of his humble abode, and into the streets. He let his mind wander as he walked, letting it drift from subject to subject. The fact that his parents had disappeared when he was younger and he spared them a few thoughts about where they could have gone. Maybe to Greece or Italy? But then why would they have just left him alone to fend for himself?

Hack shook his head gently and forced himself out of the negative thinking. His parents have been missing for a long while now. Either they’re happily in a different country or dead. That’s the one thing that had been a constant reminder in his life now. It’s either survive, death, or make people think you’re dead.

The hacker sighed and turned his eyes to the sky. There were a few clouds covering the stars but for the most part it was clear. He allowed himself to stare for a few moments before turning his eyes back to the path that he was traveling.

It had been a while since he had taken a walk. Usually never wanting to deal with random strangers in the streets kept him inside of his place and in front of his computer.

Another fleeting thought about maybe seeing a chiropractor went through his mind right before something else caught his attention. A small movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn and seek out what had been there. He was still wearing the contacts since he had been too angry to take them out before so it made picking out the shape of a body a lot easier.

“Who’s there?”

He knew it wasn’t an assassin. Or if it was they were clearly not smart. It if were they would have a different spot to look from. That was basically rule one, never scope out on the same level as your mark.

With this in mind, Hack chose to pose as a simple pedestrian and made his voice waver in slight fear. After all if it was the ACS then he would be screwed if he showed that he was a part of the assassin community. (If one could call it a community.) Better to be safe than screwed.

Three agents came out from the shadows and approached him slowly, “What are you doing out past curfew?”

‘ _Shit_.’ Hack let confusion show on his face, “It’s already past curfew?! I didn’t know.” Of course he knew. He just didn’t want to be treated like an assassin. Granted he was an assassin but he didn’t want them to treat him with suspicion about it considering their acronym stood for “Assassin Capture Services”.

One of the figures crossed their arms over their chest, clearly not buying it, “What are you doing out here on your own?”

Hack let his gaze drop as if he was exasperated, “I got into a fight with one of my roommates.” He rolled his eyes and sighed hotly, “After all you should trust a guy not to bang your girlfriend behind your back right?” he posed the question to himself and shook his head again.

One of the other men nodded along, “I feel ya’ bro. That happened to me with my buddy. Caught them when I got home from work early.”

Hack made a sympathizing sound and sighed again, “Sorry again about being out past curfew. My mind wasn’t in quite a right place when I left.”

The three nodded him off and told him to head back before someone else might catch him unaware. “Someone like an assassin” was their exact words.

Hack thanked them again and headed back to his loft, keeping the grin off of his face just in case there was another around. The one ACS guy hadn’t really bought Hack’s story fully but it was enough for now. He would definitely have to do something about that before it became a problem.

Unfortunately he would have to now keep tabs on him and wait for the right moment. The man would have to run into another few people and then Hack could do his specialty and wreck his reputation.

It was a pity. The ones that are good at their jobs are always the ones to be the target because of it. Hack entered his home and finally let his smile onto his face. Thanks to those acting classes when he was younger he was definitely able to fool many officers over the years.

Perhaps in another life he would have made a great actor.

There was a small ‘ _Ping!_ ’ from his computer letting him know that he had an email so he went over to his chair and checked it. Hack’s mood darkened when he saw who it was from.

He had successfully forgotten about the whole debacle when Nathan fucking Goldberg had emailed him again. Hack had about five emails already from the other assassin and had read them all. They were all stupid.

He opened up this one and started reading;

        _Hey lovely,_

_I know you’re reading these. I have the notifications on my sidebar. So stop avoiding and come and meet me!_

_Nate_

Hack growled at his screen. He hacked into Nathan’s email and marked all of the messages as unread on his own end.

His computer ‘ _Pinged!_ ’ again.

        _Real mature Hack._

Hack allowed himself a sarcastic smirk back at the screen and sent a small bug to Nathan's system. The hacker smirked to himself and turned off his monitor; that should give Goldberg some fun for the rest of the week.

Hack sighed again and got up from his chair to lie on his bed. He needed to get some rest. Today was exhausting to say the least. Hack curled around one of his body pillows and pressed his face into the softness. He allowed himself to drift off after wrapping his blanket around himself and the pillow.


	9. Chapter 9

Hack had been keeping tabs on Nathan ever since ‘the incident’. He wanted to make sure that no photos or any hints at his identity were ever revealed. It’s a dangerous game being an assassin and he really wanted to keep as far away from any crosshairs as he could.

After about six weeks Hack was very confused as to why Nathan wasn’t giving anything out. Info on any assassin was well sought after but Hack especially since he never let his face be seen by any employer.

Call him paranoid but if you let yourself get out there then you also let yourself become an easy target. It’s all just a business.

Hack had played with the idea of meeting Goldberg but then again his face would end up always being fresh in the other assassin’s mind. At least for now Hack could pretend to think that Goldberg had somewhat forgotten it.

He clicked open a news broadcast on his computer and sat back to watch. It was always good to be caught up on current events. Even though this one he caused.

On his screen was an ACS Officer being escorted out of a building in handcuffs. Hack tilted his head at the uncharacteristic calmness of the officer before skipping that story. He already knew what happened there.

ACS Officer convicted of selling secrets and helping assassins go free.

Hack sighed and rolled his eyes, it’s not that hard to corrupt evidence files when they’re in an online system. People never learn.

After another hour of watching the news Hack turned off his computer. He needed to go out food shopping again before it got dark.

Curfew had been pushed down to sunset since the assassin activity had risen. There had been a few jobs that he had to decline simply because he had a bad vibe. Those turned out to be stings from the ACS and everyone who had accepted were now being held at the ACS headquarters.

All assassins knew that anyone who got taken never got out of that building.

The increase of stings from the ACS had caused the upstart of the assassin activity as well. The assassins were feeling threatened so a few were starting to team up and form small alliances until the ACS could be taken down.

Hack was smarter than that. Bigger groups equal bigger targets. There was also the chance that one of the assassins can swing sides and rat out the group.

You couldn’t really trust anyone these days.

With that thought the assassin left his place and headed to the market. He traveled down the street idly thinking about what to do next or if he should lie low for a while considering all of the things going on. Hack had on his colored lenses again just in case he needed them for an emergency.

He went through the aisles of food and picked out what he needed before making his way to pay for them. The brunet kept his head down so he wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone since he didn’t want to be social. He gave a small sigh at the mundane life of normal people.

It might have been nice if he grew up normally.

“Hey sexy.”

Hack’s eyes flashed in anger before he turned around to face the other. He had to calm himself otherwise he would have punched Goldberg in the face right then and there.

Nathan smiled at the hacker and put his hands up in a surrender-like move, “Calm down man, I just want to talk to you.” When Hack turned back around to pay for his things the other took it as a sign to continue talking, “I’ve been hanging out here for a while trying to catch you, I thought you had moved to a different state, haha!”

Hack thought about it for a small moment (He did already think about it but still, he was well rooted here.) before taking his things and heading towards the street. He wasn’t going to try to get to his home yet. Goldberg was probably going to follow him around for a bit.

And Nathan had done just that, “Come on dude! Can’t we just talk?” He sighed at the continued silence. He knew that what he was going to say was going to get (most likely) a violent reaction from the hacker but he wasn’t going to give up that easily, “If this is the thanks I get for keeping your identity a secret then maybe I shou-”

Hack dropped the bag and pinned the other against the nearest tree. He spoke dangerously low and glared into the gold eyes, “If you let one detail slip about my identity I am going to make your life a living hell. You are going to be tortured and after you’re begging to die I will turn you into the ACS, then they get to do whatever it is that they do and you will never be seen or heard from again.” Hack let go of Goldberg’s shoulders and stepped back.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Nathan smiled, “That was pretty terrifying.” He tilted his head to the side and quirked an eyebrow, “Do you want to go out for coffee later?”

Hack’s stare turned confused before he shook his head and went to pick up his things once again going into silence.

Nathan watched Hack walk for a few paces before calling out, “Tomorrow at 3?” He just laughed to himself when Hack flipped him off without turning around.

___

Hack put his food away and fell ungraciously onto his bed face down. He let out a pitiful noise when his computer pinged and turned onto his side to ignore it for now.

He stared at his wall for a while debating on whether or not to go on the date. He supposed that he owed the damn bastard for not speaking about him but then again Goldberg was just so annoying.

If he wasn’t an assassin he would probably think that Nate staking out the market was creepy as fuck, but since he was, it seemed normal.

Assassins stake out their marks. And Hack was Goldberg’s mark. But for a date?

Hack sighed into his pillow and covered his head with his blanket when he heard another ping.

Relationships between assassins never really go that well. Not unless they start off as partners or exigent circumstances make them long term partners. Then again it isn’t unheard of that it works out, just uncommon. Most of the time the people have to work out their contracts and figure out timing, or some shit like that, for it to work.

The third ping from his computer broke Hack out of his head. Was he really thinking about it this much? Was he really debating on going out willingly to have coffee with Nathan Fucking Goldberg? The douchebag who staged a scene just to get a look at his face?

Hack got up from the bed and checked his messages.

_Hey Hack! Just making sure that you aren’t getting cold feet for that coffee tomorrow! Don’t take too much time thinking about what to wear, I’m easy to please! 2 sharp!_

The hacker shook his head and clicked open the next message.

_Then again if you take a while would I be in for a surprise? Would you be willing to dress up for me, sexy?_

And then the next:

_You should also tell me your name; you’re real one you know? It’s not that fair that you know my whole backstory but all I know of you is your face don’t you think?_

Hack stood up straight to think again. After typing off a reply he shut off the monitor and went to his newly bought food. He couldn’t really keep the smirk off his face as he ate.

Going out willingly to get coffee like a normal person (with an annoying prick.) wasn’t what he was going to do. He was going to get back at the asshole.

_I wasn’t the one who made it too easy to get that information now was I? You said 3. We can meet up at the place in downtown._


	10. Chapter 10

Hack had turned off all of the motion sensors and alarms before he even let himself touch the property. He had on his goggles and was in his whole ‘work’ outfit. Granted since it was in the afternoon he couldn’t really be too obvious with the ACS mulling around everywhere.

Yes, He stood up Goldberg. No, Goldberg didn’t know yet, it wasn’t 3 o’clock yet. And besides, Hack had a small feeling that the other would have known about him trying something like this. He smothered that feeling and went ahead with his plan.

Breaking into Goldberg’s house.

It was surprisingly not as easy as he had expected but figured the other should have some sort of security. Hack had gotten in through the back window and immediately went looking for a connection to his network.

He wasn’t going to screw Nathan’s life over. Just make it hard for him for a while. After all, there was only so much he could do from an email connection. Hack smiled to himself when he set up the entire system without much trouble.

He played with the idea of going to meet Goldberg since he still had a few minutes before he was technically late but decided against it. He didn’t want to give the other any false hope that they could be a ‘thing.’

Then again in hindsight he should have realized that what he was doing could constitute as an assassin’s way of flirting.

___

Nathan sighed as he walked through his door. He did expect the other to stand him up; Hack had given in way too easily the day before. But still, it was a major let down for the boy.

Nathan sank into his computer chair and spun around in it, staring at the ceiling. He thought about sending an email to the hacker asking what happened before spinning around again.

Yeah, fuck it.

Nathan let his chair spin an entire rotation back to its original position before turning on his computer. He logged on and was going to click on his compose button but stopped short.

His screen was in negative and mirrored. Nathan blinked at it for a few seconds before letting out a surprised laugh.

Maybe Hack wasn’t so hard-to-get after all.

He shook his head and opted to go online with his phone. He had no idea how the hacker did that but he still wanted to contact him again.

        _Very creative. Next time you want to get into my house just ask, yeah?_

_I could even give you a tour._

Nathan stood up from his chair and not-so-much-walked-as-danced to his room, humming a tune.

___

Hack was just opening one of his sodas when he heard his laptop ‘ping.’ He took a small drink before reading the email and replying.

        _Where would I even want to see in your house? By the way, that ‘house’ is subtle. Really. I don’t think they can see you from Mars._

He blinked at his own reply after hitting send. Was he really bantering with this guy? Hack took another drink of his soda and sat back to actually think.

Before he was able to pick his own thoughts another email had come through.

        _Well, for one, the bedroom_

_If you know what I mean…_

Hack had the decency to blush (in anger thank you very much.) and not respond.

___

A few weeks had passed. The only really notable thing that had happened was that the ACS officer that had been arrested was missing.

This wasn’t that unheard of in the whole scheme of things. Hack had dismissed it for more important problems. He had to move his base of operations because someone had gotten lucky in the ACS headquarters and found the server that Hack was using.

He knew what happened before they did.

It was easy enough to pack up and run, leaving nothing behind that would clue in the Service as to who was living there.

Hack set up a new base not that far from his old one. (Literally down the street.) He knew that the ACS wouldn’t be looking so close to the original bust. He knew their protocols; he even might have rewritten a few of them just because he could.

He posed as an innocent bystander that was wondering what was going on while the ACS did the bust. Hack kept composure when they came up with nothing and ushered the citizens into their homes, telling them that there was an assassin near there and to stay inside.

Once inside Hack let himself smile and grab a glass of water before checking his email.

The bantering between him and Goldberg had never really stopped, but the other stopped asking to meet up after a few days. Hack was immensely relieved with that development and even felt a tiny bit of respect for Goldberg. (Now that the insufferable bastard was showing his boundaries respect that is.)

And maybe that tingly feeling whenever he heard a ‘ping’ was the prospect of a possible friendship in Hack’s eyes. He had reclused when his parents disappeared and never really formed any bonds with anyone.

Then again no one had tried quite as hard as Goldberg. Which might be the reason why he felt a certain type of camaraderie with the obnoxious boy. Because no one besides Goldberg had tried to get to know him after Hack had snapped back.

Hack had lost a bit of sleep over his confusion of the feeling of a possible friendship. Fortunately he was able to compartmentalize whenever he was on a job and had things to think about. But when he was alone in his bed in the quiet of the night the thoughts would come to the forefront of his mind. So there he would think, wrapped around his body pillow until he felt his eyelids drop.

This happened for a few nights until he realized that he might actually miss the incessant gnat if he ended up getting caught. This realization made the hacker sit up straight in his bed.

‘ _No fucking way._ ’ 


	11. Chapter 11

Nathan sat at his computer screen, frowning. Hack hadn’t replied to any of his emails in the past week. He knew that the hacker hadn’t read any of the emails either since his notification bar didn’t register it. (Nate did get an updated one along with a backup in case Hack decided to erase the history again.)

He would be worried if he didn’t check the news reports that said what assassins they were catching. But he also did see a home-bust and he could assume that it was Hack’s considering he saw one of the food products in his cart after he went shopping.

Nathan crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his arm. After a few moments he reached forward and sent another email

_Please just let me know if you’re okay?_

He couldn’t do much else so he decided to go out for a run. Nathan had been doing that a lot more this past week. It started out as something to get his mind off of the hacker but it was also starting to fail with the consecutive days of quiet from Hack.

Nathan was hoping that backing off of his flirting and actually attempting to get to know Hack would help out his cause. He really did respect the hacker majorly. Hack had just appeared in the community and climbed the ladder of best assassins fast.

He was cautious to a fault that only benefited himself and made sure that nothing went wrong on a job. Nathan loved how meticulous and how resourceful Hack was. He really wanted to be friends with the hacker and Nate hoped that the near constant banter between the two of them was helping the recluse see that Nathan was harmless. (Well, that Nate was harmless to Hack anyways.)

Nathan locked his door and turned on the security system before running down the street, trying to clear his mind and to stop worrying.

Needless to say it didn’t work.

\---

12 weeks and 4 days.

That was how long Hack had known Goldberg. Right from when they first met on a job. He had been ignoring the emails that were sent to him lately in order to distance himself.

After realizing that Goldberg was starting to slip into an uneasy friendship zone, Hack had completely stopped communicating with him. Hack had run through a few reasons why having a ‘friend’ no matter how close or not was a bad idea.

He didn’t need a connection that could be used against him.

He didn’t need a person knowing more about him than everyone else.

Nathan could easily turn on him and alert the ACS.

They were all very true options and all of them had an easy chance of happening and ruining Hack’s life, reputation, safety. But there was also another one that he simply ignored right after it had popped into his mind while he was making the list. Just because he didn’t think it was accurate.

Hack didn’t want to get hurt.

But no matter how much he denied it, the fact remained that he knew that one was true. Hack just preferred to live in ignorance. And he was going to leave it for as long as he can.

He was working on another gadget when his computer ‘pinged’ again. Figuring that it was another request for his service and running on automatic he brought up his window and before he could realize that it was from Goldberg he opened the email.

Hack’s stomach dropped when he read it. He let out a little gasp and immediately exited out of it. Never mind the fact that he already knew that it was registered and that there was no point.

“Fuck.”

He felt the tiniest burning behind his eyes and pushed the feeling away. Hack got back to work on his project and allowed the opening of the mail to answer Goldberg for now.

He couldn’t help but feel a little bit touched that someone actively cared about him. It was a very different feeling in the business that everyone wants to kill you and he hadn’t felt that way since his parents were with him.

Hack took another deep breath when the stinging in his eyes came back in order to get it to stop. When it didn’t, he put down his tools and paced his small apartment.

After a few moments of thinking he looked to his computer and sighed again. Hack brought up his email and quickly sent a short one back to the other assassin. After he clicked ‘send’ he sat there for a few minutes thinking about the decision. Was he really doing the right thing? Either way it was already too late to take it back.

He decided that he should turn in early for the night after he shut off the monitor when he had to wipe his eyes. Hack was exhausted and he wanted to lie in his bed for a while.

And if it was an excuse to cry then no one would be the wiser.

It wasn’t like anyone knew who he really was.

\---

Nathan got back from his run and decided to go straight to his shower to fend off the letdown of no reply again. He took his time washing and dressing and got himself something to drink.

Nathan kept glancing back to his computer as he sipped his water and when it was done he knew that he should stop stalling. Getting ready to feel the same disappointment Nate turned on his computer and waited for it to boot up.

He absentmindedly twirled in his chair for the duration of the time that it took for his computer to warm up and clicked on his email. He momentarily forgot how to breathe when he saw that little number 1.

Nathan screamed as he threw his computer on the floor in anger (and maybe a little bit of sadness) after reading the message three times. He ran his hands through his hair and pulled hard to calm himself down. Nathan ignored the tears in his eyes and sat down heavily in his chair.

He had really thought that he was getting through to the hacker. That Hack was realizing that Nathan only wanted friendship and, if he felt like it, more.

Over the course of the many weeks that they had been emailing Nathan had felt something towards the hacker. Something he thought might have been reciprocated.

Goldberg buried his face in his hands and let himself cry. He pulled his legs up on the chair and pressed his forehead to his knees. Nathan closed his eyes and just breathed for a while.

        _Don’t contact me again. Ever._


	12. Chapter 12

Hack dropped in through the opening in the skylight of a museum. He held onto a line and slowly lowered himself to the floor. Just before he was able to touch, he checked the system again. Hack made sure that he had turned off the pressure sensors and when he finished he let himself drop the last few inches.

The brunet glanced either way, switching the modes on his goggles to make sure everything was fine before going towards the small glass case. Inside was a very old piece of jewelry from a queen. Worth a lot. Well sought after. Good target for haggling.

Hack took advantage of the desperation between some of the buyers and upped the ante a bit. He took the highest bidder and refrained from telling the others so he wouldn’t have any competition.

Smarter not harder, a motto to live by.

Hack cut through the glass and allowed himself to smile and take the jewelry. It was small so he could easily hide it in one of the pouches on his bag. That done he went back to his line and climbed up it.

He pulled himself through the skylight and wrapped up the chord so he wouldn’t leave behind any evidence. When it was all taken care of he turned back on the security, stood up and looked around for the cleanest getaway. He quirked his eyebrow at the red bodies from his infrared goggles and went towards the building closest to himself.

Hack jumped from rooftop to rooftop and stopped after a few minutes to catch his breath. He tilted his eyes up to the night sky to look at the stars for a few seconds before going back to his home. Unaware of the eyes on him from the same building.

___

Nathan was shocked into stillness. He was just lounging on a random rooftop, minding his own business when the hacker himself jumped onto it. He froze and watched as Hack took a few breaths, look to the sky and then take off again.

He could have sworn that his heart stopped for a few seconds and he was very glad that he didn’t move.

Nathan thought for a few seconds before feeling a bit of anger swell in his chest. He was going to get to the bottom of the whole ‘don’t talk to me again’ thing.

With that he followed behind Hack, taking care to keep his distance and not clue him in on the fact that he was following. Nathan was putting all of his effort in keeping quiet and watched from behind a tree truck as Hack stealthily opened an apartment window and slipping inside.

He debated for a few seconds and realized that he wasn’t going to be able to talk to Hack ever again through email. (Nathan did try to send more emails but the hacker had blocked him.)

Nathan needed to know why the sudden coldshoulder. He really did care about Hack and wanted to be friends. With a new resolve, Nathan went around to the front of the apartment and knocked on the door.

He heard something being moved around before the door lock started to jiggle. Nathan felt butterflies and realized suddenly that Hack will not be above slamming the door in his face. He watched the door open, the eyes focus, widen in surprise and then pressed himself into the room. He closed the door behind him and quickly grabbed onto Hack’s wrists since they were going behind him. (Probably for his gun)

Nathan pushed him against the wall and held tightly, “I don’t know what happened with you and the sudden amount of ignoring you’re doing with me but I don’t care anymore.”

He faltered and shook his head, “I mean I do care because I thought we might be closer to being friends but I mean that I’m going to get the answer from you.” Nathan looked into the hacker’s eyes and blinked at the different color, “Wow. You have beautiful eyes.”

Hack blinked and looked away, a blush covering his cheeks. He didn’t know what to do. He was pinned to his wall, gun pressing uncomfortably against his back, Goldberg very close to breaking down, it was a very odd situation. He felt angry at the sudden entrance but also subdued for some strange reason.

Nathan shook his head to focus again, “And I’m probably not helping my case by following you here and holding you against a wall just because I know that you could most likely kick my ass and kill me before I can ask you why and I just!...” He trailed off and loosened his grip on Hack’s wrists.

Hack glanced to his hands and then back to the other. He was going to break the hold and escape but this whole speech was something that he wanted to hear. The brunet watched as Goldberg struggled with his words and realized something.

They were friends. Maybe not in the conventional sense but there was some sort of _thing_ between them and he couldn’t deny it now. It was the only answer to all of his unexplained emotions.

Nathan dropped the hacker’s wrists and turned his back to breath. He ran his hand through his hair to compose himself before he realized that he _turned his back on an assassin_.

Hack let himself slide down the wall and sit when he saw how much Nathan trusted him to turn his back as well as his own little epiphany. No one had ever put that much trust in him. He blinked again when the other turned back and sat down, a few feet of space between them.

“Whatever I did I’m sorry Hack.” Nathan said crossing his legs and letting his arms prop up his head. He closed his eyes and sighed again, “I really want us to be friends and I thought we were but…”

Hack slowly got up and went to his kitchenette. He poured two glasses of water and went back to the other. He set the glass in front of the other and sat down in his same spot.

Nathan nodded at Hack and reached forward, “S’not poisoned is it?” he asked half serious.

Hack just chuckled without humor because what a world that they live in where that is an actual question. He shook his head and drank his own water.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Hack set his down and sat up straighter, “I…don’t trust. I don’t have friends.” He opted to run his finger over the lip of the glass instead of looking at Nathan, “It gives us something to lose.”

Nathan watched as the brunet semi-struggled with what to say. He chose to be quiet just in case there was more and set down his glass as well.

Hack sighed again and glanced up at the teal haired boy, “This-” he gestured between the two of them, “-is not a friendship.” He paused, debating on whether to continue. “But… it is something that I can lose.”

Nathan’s eyes widened and he looked back down at the ground. Hack had just admitted that they were something. He took a deep breath and looked back to the other, “But it can also make you stronger.” He said quietly. He understood what the hacker was trying to get at. It’s hard to lose someone and in the assassin life it is all too familiar with most.

Hack hummed and sat back again, “…I guess.”

Nathan watched him for a few more moments before drinking the rest of his water. He’d take what he could get from the hacker. He was just happy that they had more or less talked it out. 


	13. Chapter 13

Nathan had noticed his new running partner about a week after he had the heart to heart with Hack. Granted the other always stayed about two hundred feet behind him but Nathan took it in stride. He never bugged the hacker about it over emails just in case it was taken the wrong way but that didn’t mean he stopped bugging Hack. The smartass never stopped his quips at Nat’s expense either.

Hack had taken to writing Nat’s name with a ‘G’ in front.

Nathan glanced back to make sure that Hack was following him and flashed a grin.

He couldn’t see the eye roll so much as feel it but it didn’t matter. It was the thought that counted.

Hack was surprised at how well his ‘we aren’t friends’ talk went with Goldberg. He thought that the other would deny it and keep pressuring him but none of those words came. Nat just continued on being Nat and he didn’t expect anything different from Hack.

It made him confused. Hack was used to people pushing for labels and concrete answers but Nathan didn’t care. It was refreshing to say the least.

And if he ran ‘with’ Goldberg, it was just because there was an undeniable safety with numbers. Not because of any slight possibility of a friendship.

Hah friendship, yeah right.

And yet when Goldberg acknowledged his presence while running, the automatic fond/annoyed eye-roll just happened without his permission.

Hack realized that he might need to rethink some things (i.e. the whole thing with feelings) sometime soon…

But then again he was extremely good at ignoring things.

___

A few more weeks had passed and Hack frequently dismissed his feelings about Nathan. He knew that he wasn’t uncomfortable around the other assassin but Hack wasn’t sure what that meant. So he just brushed it off in order not to stress about it.

It didn’t seem like Nat was worried about defining their relationship so why should he?

And besides, in their lifestyles the less stress the better. Their emails kept the banter but it slowly morphed into actual conversations as well, so slowly that the hacker didn’t even notice.

The next time that he thought about where they stood he had to grudgingly admit that they were friends.

Needless to say he didn’t really sleep that night, instead opting to go through all of their emails to see where he went wrong. Hack sat back and ran a hand through his hair when he realized that there wasn’t a specific point. Instead there was a whole bunch of points that morphed them to where they were at.

He was friends with Nathan Goldberg. The only person who knows who Hack is and what he looks like. And Nathan had done absolutely nothing with that information. (To which Hack was majorly relieved about.) He had many different chances to turn Hack in to the ACS but proved that he could be trusted.

Hack trusted him.

That realization floored him as well. He took a break for a day to think it over and realized that yes, he did trust Goldberg.

“I’m in deep shit.”

They both knew where each other lived, they went on runs together (ish), they knew what each other looks like and they’ve known all of this for a long time. And with that thought process Hack realized something else.

Goldberg trusted him back.

Hack didn’t think that he could have trusted another person ever again after what happened to him. His parents and the whole assassin life in general, should have shot that horse in the head. Hack felt oddly calm about all of it, almost as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

It felt like it was going to be a good day.

…

So of course it would go to shit quickly.

___

Nathan took a short shower after his run and went to check his email. After reading the offers as well as bantering back to Hack he closed out the window and turned off the monitor.

He span around in his chair smiling. He was happy that his friendship with Hack had been growing and that the hacker wasn’t trying to stop it from happening as well. He was worried for a while right after their confrontation but shrugged it off as soon as he got the new running partner.

He really did respect Hack as a person and assassin. Hack was resourceful, smart and sarcastic, all points that Nat was attracted to. But then again there was the whole non-trusting side of Hack. Nathan knew that if the hacker never wanted to have that kind of relationship he would be fine with it.

Nat wouldn’t push for it because the hacker is different than Nathan is. And he wouldn’t change that for anything. He would be content to be Hack’s friend.

Which they were now, Nathan was convinced that they were friends for a while. Hack just needed to figure it out without being freaked. Nat thought that it happened, he wasn’t sure though. Either way, he cared about the hacker and the hacker cared about him (In a weird roundabout way.)

They hadn’t turned each other in so there was that.

(Truthfully that was all Nat was going on but it alone was a big piece of the puzzle as well.)

Hack trusted Nat with his identity.

That was huge.

Still smiling he got up from the seat and walked to his television. He turned it on to a news station and went to get himself a glass of water while he waited for the commercials to get over with.

He was drinking the water when he glanced at the screen only to choke on the liquid.

There on the screen was Hack getting arrested. The headline read ‘James Castellanos suspected of Assassin Activity.’

Nat dropped the glass, ignoring it as it shattered and quickly got his stuff. He needed to scrub down Hack’s apartment before the ACS found anything that could be used against him.

For now he was only suspected, they wouldn’t put him into the headquarters until they found evidence showing that Hack was an assassin.

It was one of the main reasons why assassins were screwed when they were found out. They never have another clean down their living spaces so they are convicted.

Nathan put on his mask and leapt from his rooftop to the next one, determined.

He wasn’t going to let Hack disappear into the ACS headquarters. No one knows what happens to those who go in. They just aren’t ever heard from again. And Nathan wanted to at least kiss Hack again.

Nat was lucky that he already knew a lot of the hidden spots in Hack’s apartment. The clean down shouldn’t take that long.


	14. Chapter 14

Hack was pushed into a small interrogation room with a typical one way mirror and one door. He sat in the chair and glared at the mirror. They had left the handcuffs on his wrists behind his back so it was a little uncomfortable but he didn’t pay much attention to that.

“There is no evidence that I am an assassin! This is ridiculous!”

After no reply he huffed and sat back in the chair again. His heartbeat was thundering in his chest and his mind was racing with any possible slip-ups he might have had. While he was however he didn’t let the mask of annoyance on his face go away.

With no solid evidence then they can’t put him in the headquarters. It wouldn’t be allowed by the judge if there was any shred of doubt.

Hack sighed loudly again and leaned back in the chair, making it go up on two legs. He just had to keep up the act and he would be scott-free.

Well, that is if they didn’t find any evidence in his apartment.

He let the chair softly set onto the floor again as a black hole opened in his stomach.

_Keep up the act. Keep up the act. Keep up the **damn** act._

Hack would not let them see him sweat.

He was confident that they wouldn’t find the stuff that was on him. When he found out he was being investigated he hid away his gun and flash drives inside of a small hidey-hole that he had made a long time ago.

Hack never thought he would have ended up needing the hiding spot, but he was also very confident that he would have never gotten caught.

Thankfully he still made the damn thing. Otherwise the judge wouldn’t even need to see him.

The gavel would have gone bang and then Hack would be whisked off to the ACS Headquarters never to be seen again.

He heard the door open and he glanced over immediately going to start talking about how stupid these people were when his voice failed him.

There standing in the doorway was the ACS officer that he had blackmailed into being thrown away.

He blinked at the man before showing recognition, “Hey, you were one of the guys that almost arrested me all those weeks ago.” He rolled his eyes and glared at the mirror again, “I see your quota isn’t being reached so you’re just going after anybody now aren’t ya?” It was probably best to keep the attitude up.

The man just sat across the table from him. He folded his fingers together before smiling at Hack, “We’ll see if you’re ‘just anybody’ soon enough.”

Fucking fuck.

___

Nathan packed the lens case on the sink in his backpack before giving the room one more final sweep. He had found most of the gadgets and gizmos that were hidden as well as lying around and he knew he only had a few more minutes before the crew came up and busted down the door.

He swallowed before looking through the bed sheets and pocketing a small taser as well. Nathan heard the distinct footsteps and quickly looked around again before jumping out of the window and onto the ledge below.

He heard the door break under the pressure of the search crew and took a deep breath before carefully making his way back to his place. The last thing he needed was to be found out and screwed before Hack was even confirmed.

He would never live it down from the hacker.

A small sad smile found its way to his lips when he got back to his home and turned on the TV. Nat would be keeping an eye on the trial and if Hack was somehow found out, then he was going to try his hardest to get the hacker out of the headquarters.

But for now, all he could do was wait.

And probably plan for a breakout just in case.

With that on his mind he took out his cell phone and dialed a number. Nathan waited for two rings before the call was answered, “Hey buddy, listen, I wanted to let you know that I am gonna be there for the big game alright?”

There was a small pause before the other voice started, “Really bro? Alright then sweet, I’ll tell the family that you’re coming, what time should I expect you?”

Nathan grinned, “Probably around one? And I want to keep it a surprise okay?” He and Kevin had come up with their little code a long time ago when they were first starting out. It was just to let the other know that something big was happening and that they needed to talk in person.

‘The family’ meant the others in their original group, ‘keeping it as a surprise’ meant that Nathan wanted to talk to only Kevin first before letting the others know.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Eds. It was just… well… he didn’t trust the Eds, not with this delicate information anyway.

“Alright, see you in a while.”

Nathan hung up the call and shot a text off to another number. A very old partner than he hadn’t talked to since they went their separate ways. They didn’t part on bad terms; they just wanted different things and respected that about each other.

        _Hey chica! I’m doing a project with Kev and I need a good glue gun, do you have one I could borrow for a few days?_

‘Glue gun’ meant that he needed someone who would have his six while he went on a job.

He took another deep breath, hoping that her number didn’t change before sending the text. Nat sat on the couch, reading the headlines on the TV again before he started to tap impatiently on his cell.

He never liked waiting.

Nat felt the buzz and closed his eyes, hoping it was an affirmative. He unlocked his phone and read the message.

        _Sure! You’ll have to deal that it’s pink though. When do you need it by?_

Goldberg let out a sigh of relief and let himself collapse onto his couch. He didn’t need a big team, the smaller the better because of the fact that this was The Headquarters. He just needed people who would have his back and keep Hack’s secret.

They were going to ask why he was willing to do this for a ‘James Castellanos’ especially when no one in the field has ever heard of him or has seen his face before.

And Nathan had to tell the truth, because assassins know lies. (The fact that these were his best friends also kind of nails the trying to lie to them right in the head.)

He didn’t know if they were going to congratulate him or try to kill him.

Or some mixture of both.

Either way it probably wasn’t going to be enjoyable on his part.


	15. Chapter 15

Nathan twirled his drink in his glass, dreading why the other two assassins in his house were so quiet. He didn’t look up at them, trying to aim for nonchalant as he leaned against his counter. It wasn’t working. He took another drink and quickly glanced up at the two before back down again.

“Hack, as in THE Hack?”

Nathan nodded.           

“What the fuck dude?” Kevin came forward and crossed his arms, “Didn’t feel like telling me because….” He trailed off, waving his hand in the air to let the other know that the reason should be voiced.

Nat sighed and put his glass down, “He trusted me. I didn’t want to betray that.” Trust was almost sacred in their lives. They all knew it. Which is why that statement was able to get them both to back down from actually killing him to slightly maiming him.

“So why are you doing it now?” The girl asked with her arms crossed. She was tapping her thumb against her forearm which Nat knew that was a tell of her being very annoyed.

Nat smiled and shrugged, “I knew you two wouldn’t try to do this without knowing who I wanted to bust out.”

Nazz uncrossed her arms and sipped her water. She watched the green haired male for something unknown to him before nodding, “Nice catch by the way, he’s cute.”

Nathan chuckled lightly and nodded, “He’s pretty smart too.”

Kevin rolled his eyes, “Then how did he manage to get caught?” He shut up when two glares were leveled at him. Kevin put both of his hands up in a surrendering move and backed away a step.

Nazz kept her glare for a few more seconds than Nat did before choosing to punch the other in the shoulder.

Kevin rubbed his arm, (It hurt okay?), and took another step away from her, “Sorry.” He looked back to Nat and nodded, “Sorry.” He gave a small smile at his friend’s nod of acceptance.

The tension was broken easily and Nat looked at both of them, “So are you in?”

Kevin scoffed and turned away, “Oh yeah, we’re just going to stroll in, grab the guy and leave? It’s not possible to break into the Headquarters.”

“No, it is. It’s just that no one’s ever done it before.” Nat said, pointing at his friend, “It’s totally possible.”

Nazz cocked her head, “How’s that lover boy?” One of the many things that she liked to do was exceed expectations. It was one of the reasons why Nat asked her to be his six, she enjoyed proving people wrong.

Nathan reached behind him and spread out the roll of paper. He was able to get the blueprints from one of his contractors. Blackmail went a long way in the community and people who don’t want to be known for employing an assassin are very easy to manipulate.

___

They planned for the next few days and figured out the best spots for Nazz and how she would get to them quickly just in case either one of them needed back up.

Kevin was content with his position as a distraction. He had done it many times before and although he wanted to help Hack out first, he had to concede that he most likely wouldn’t trust him anyways.

So that left Nathan to snatch and run.

Nathan was also completely fine with that position.

It was the night of the hearing and it would be televised in a little under an hour.

“This might all not even be necessary you know.” Nazz brought up while they were waiting, “You said that you scrubbed his apartment right?”

“Yeah. I would just like to be prepared for it.” Nathan’s stomach had been uneasy the days prior to the hearing. He just had a feeling that Hack would be convicted even if they didn’t find anything.

Kevin nodded, “It would be very ACS-like if they faked proof so that they don’t look like dumbasses.” He received another punch from Nazz and made a confused gesture, “What did I do this time?!”

The blonde glared and shook her head.

Nathan couldn’t ask for better friends.

They talked through the plan a few times and set a time scale. After all the longer Hack was inside of the headquarters the smaller the possibility of him being alive was.

Nathan took a deep breath when the station stated the upcoming verdict of the alleged assassin after the next few messages and let it our slowly. It would be very nice if it was all for naught.

All of their planning and practice would have been made worthless but it would have been also a weight off of their shoulders. They were feeling a bit uneasy at the prospect of breaking into the Headquarters. Never mind they were all experienced and smart about their jobs.

Nazz had been showing small signs of gazing off into space for short periods of time before coming back to her usual confident self.

Kevin stared at his phone as if debating on calling someone. (Nathan knew exactly who that was.) But there was the fact that this was a secret job. They had all sworn that until it was over nothing would be shared.

Nathan had felt guilty about dragging them in with him but with twin smacks to the back of his head made him reconsider when he asked them for the fourth time if they wanted to back out. He was grateful for it.

Now as they sat on the couch the trial came up, Hack wasn’t in the room. Nathan fisted his hand. That was never a good sign.

The prosecutor brought forward “evidence” in the form of a small canister with mephitic gas.

Nathan shook his head, “Hack never uses that stuff. And even if he did it wouldn’t just be lying around anywhere!”

They had planted evidence.

Nathan dimly heard Nazz take a sharp breath but chose to ignore it only to watch at the judge convicted Hack. He felt someone tugging on his shoulder sleeve and he looked over to her.

She pointed to the corner of the screen and he felt his stomach instantly drop. He felt another hand on his shoulder, more at a comforting level that he attributed with Kevin. Nathan swallowed, suddenly feeling like he had a dry mouth before letting out a curse.

There blinking at the corner of the screen were a few words.

_Filmed prior to airdate._

Prior to airdate meant at least 24 hours.

Hack had been in the Headquarters for at least a full day now. The original chances of estimated survival had to be re-calculated.

And they had dropped by at least 15 percent.


	16. Chapter 16

Hack had been left alone inside of the interrogation room for a few hours now. He knew he should have been hungry but the reality of his situation was enough to have him distracted from it.

He had been able to figure out that the officer was most likely a plant when he framed him. The only reason why he took so long in apprehending Hack was probably because the brunet waited before he set up the damn guy.

No doubt the officer looked into everyone he had come in contact with and had them investigated. Privately of course, if the TV crew had caught wind then Hack would have definitely left town and changed his appearance again.

A stray thought of needing to dye his roots again soon passed through his mind.

The door opened and the officer came in to sit in front of him.

“Look at what we found.”

A small spray canister was set on the table in front of Hack and he blinked at it then looked up at the man, “You’re kidding right?” He would never have that kind of thing in his apartment. It was so very outdated, “How would that belong to me?” Hack narrowed his eyes at the smirking officer, “Oh I get it, it was planted.”

Man’s smirk grew.

“Oh, you fuckers.” Hack hissed out through his teeth.

The officer stood up and took the can. He tossed it from one hand to the other, “You’re hearing is in two hours. And with this-” He held up the can and shook it lightly, “-you are going to be sentenced to Headquarters.” He leaned forward and glared into the hacker’s eyes, “I don’t envy where you’ll be staying. But I have to say that you deserve everything you get.”

Hack glared back and tried to pull apart the handcuffs in anger. After no actual proof showing up they just frame him? How many others had been in his position and actually innocent? “You bastards frame people so you look like you’re always right.” It was more of a statement than question.

The officer chuckled, “I’ll admit we aren’t always 100% right about some of our cases.” He tossed the can in the air, “But I know I’m not wrong about you.” He leaned forward again, “You ruined my reputation. If I wasn’t already doing that job, what do you think I would have gone through?” He paused to think for a few seconds, “Well, you don’t really have to think do you?”

Hack followed him with his eyes as the officer stood up straight again.

“You’re going to be living it in a few hours.”

Hack was left alone again. The sudden slam of the door was deafening. He tried pulling on the handcuffs again and only stopped when he felt a slick substance drip down his hands.

‘ _Shit. I’m fucked._ ’

He couldn’t even break his thumb to get out of the cuffs, the chair was too heavy to lift towards the wall. Even if he did, he didn’t know how many guards there were in the hallway. He could take on quite a few in a fight but he also knew his limits. Besides, then they wouldn’t use discretion now that he would have proven them right.

Hack let his forehead rest on the table in front of him. He didn’t really know what was going to happen, he just knew that when someone gets sentenced to Headquarters, no one was ever seen or heard from again. He lightly hit his head against the table a few times, ‘ _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why didn’t I see it?_ ’

It wasn’t all that obvious. No one would have.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If he was going then he would go fighting.

___

Hack was pushed unceremoniously into another chair. He glared at the man but inwardly smirked at his slowly swelling eye and bloody nose. He could tell that the man was fuming and he took pride in that. It’s the little things just light up your day.

Now that he was inside of The Headquarters, he wanted to take every moment he could. This was uncharted territory.

The man in front of him turned around from the screens so that he was now facing Hack. He had a white lab coat (cliché much?) and his blond hair was starting to grey around his temples. He had a disconcertingly kind smile and crow’s feet around his eyes which were framed by glasses.

Hack had an ominous feeling not to provoke him.

“Now now, James. Was that necessary?” The elder man asked gesturing to the guard.

“Very.” Hack was still cuffed, which didn’t stop him from lashing out before, but now his ankles were as well.

The man chuckled and made a hand movement that signaled the others to leave them, “James Castellanos… I’m surprised of how long you managed to stay off of our servers and cameras.” He picked up the laptop that was behind him and set it down on the table so they would be face to face.

Hack quirked an eyebrow. There wasn’t really a need to keep his innocent act anymore, “And why’s that.”

The man chuckled and typed on the computer, “When we first met you, so many people didn’t have any expectations of what you could be.” He ignored the question in favor of monologue-ing, “After all, you were very small for your age weren’t you?”

Hack furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the multiple screens that started flickering with past footage. He sat up slowly as he realized it was all from when he was a child. On each different screen was a camera recording from malls, markets and parks.

The man studied him for a few moments, “Still not sinking in is it?” He typed again and one by one, each screen had a NO FOOTAGE FOUND on a black and white static background, “Then when you were around fourteen all footage of you was gone.” He looked at the hacker from over his laptop, “No paper trail, no electronic trail, nothing. You just disappeared.”

Hack turned his gaze from the screens to the man. He was getting more and more annoyed and angry from the man’s tone of voice.

The man let out a small chuckle, “Poof.” He stood up and took off his glasses, “If I’m not mistaken, this was about two years after your parents-” His eyes shot to the hacker to assess his reaction, “-disappeared, am I right?”

Hack pulled at his cuffs harshly, not registering the pain in his wrists. He wanted to kill this man.

“Oh, struck a chord did I?”

Hack flexed his fingers and counted to ten in his head, “What of it.” He didn’t bother hiding the seething anger in his words. This man knew something about his parents and he wanted to know what.

The man chuckled again and placed both of his hands on the back of his own chair, “I thought you were smart James, or should I say Hack?” He took delight in the assassin’s shock, “Once we had all of the pieces it was easy enough to put together.”

Hack felt betrayed. The only person who knew who he was is Goldberg. He felt another wave of anger and glared at the man, “Who told you.” He needed confirmation. Hack would vow to break out of the ACS Headquarters just to kill Nathan Goldberg painfully.

“No one.” At Hack’s confusion he continues, “Most assassins are…” He debated his next word carefully, “created. Normal people don’t choose to be assassins.” He made a displeased face, “Those who do are thorns in our sides, but anyways,” He smiled again, “Normal people don’t choose that life, you should know.” The man started pacing back and forth slowly,

Hack followed him and tensed slightly when the man walked behind where he was sitting. He was unable to see the threat in the room and it made him very anxious.

“A while ago, some people decided that good job security was to make sure that the assassin population was always present. And I, of course, agreed.” He shrugged and smiled good naturedly down at Hack, “After all, the Assassin Capture Services could only be present if there were assassins to capture.”

Hack felt something tugging at the back of his mind. Some piece of information that he needed to make it all fit. To make all of what this guy was saying make sense.

The man walked around the table again and looked down at Hack like a teacher to a student, “Now, what kind of people make the best assassins?” He leaned forward and his smile turned to ice, “Orphans.”

Hack jerked back against his chair, he felt a tingling sensation behind his eyes as his mind put together all of the pieces. He focused on the man’s lips as the next few words came out of his mouth.

“We killed your parents.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Depictions of Torture are in this chapter and references will be made in later chapters.)

Screaming, thrashing and cursing. That was all Hack remembered after the particular bomb of his parents being murdered was dropped on him. The guards came back into the room and all but dragged the struggling male out of the area and into another holding cell.

His handcuffs were attached to a pulley system in the wall so he wouldn’t be able to walk around freely in the room. After seething in anger for an unknown amount of time he compartmentalized his thoughts. Hack forced himself to calm down and actually look at his wrists now that he had the chance.

There were bright red indents on either side as well as slices where the metal was lying when he tried forcing them apart multiple times.

He relaxed against the wall and let his head fall back. Hack glared at the ceiling as he thought of ways he could kill the man.

Orphaning children just so that they have job security?

It pissed him off more than he thought possible.

The door slid open and three officers entered the room, “You ready to come quietly?”

Hack scoffed and rolled his eyes, “What do you fucking think.” With that statement he was dragged from the room; one officer taking his feet and one taking his upper body.

Hack struggled by trying to twist his body out of their grip. Even if he got out of the holds he knew it was a lost cause but he was going to give these men the hardest time that he could. After all he had nothing to lose now.

He was forced into a chair that had straps around his wrists and ankles. Hack struggled with every limb which caused the men to let out a few curses. When he was secured Hack gave a few last tugs on the straps before settling to glare at the man in the white coat.

The blonde smiled back at Hack and gestured towards the screens behind him, “I’ll just get right down to the point shall I?” His face turned serious, “Who are these assassins?”

Hack saw quite a few different people that he recognized but didn’t give any indication, “I thought you keep tabs on everyone.”

The man tapped his fingers together, “These were assassins that chose the lifestyle, we didn’t have any hand in creating them. We don’t know who they are. But!” He clapped his hands together and smiled happily at Hack, “You should know since you were the all-powerful Hack!”

The brunet didn’t miss the past-tense of his title and kept glaring. He wasn’t going to give the man anything.

After a few moments of silence the man’s face morphed into annoyance, “Fine.” He nodded at the men behind Hack and turned away.

Hack felt an arm around his forehead and a hand on his jaw that forced him to open his mouth. A mouth piece was shoved inside which made him gag and struggle against it. He felt straps go around his face and get tied behind his head and then another strap wrapped around his forehead, forcing his head back against the chair.

He breathed heavily through his nose in anger and struggled against his restraints again.

The man turned back around and cocked his head to the side, “Let’s see how defiant you are after this shall we?”

___

Hack glared from the chair that he was strapped to. Dr. Grey (The damn bastard finally introduced himself after the second electric shock.) was standing and getting visibly angrier with every flip of the switch.

Hack took too much satisfaction from making him unravel. But he was definitely paying a price for it. He could feel his muscles not responding properly to him. Hack felt jerks in his body that were beyond his control and his vision was starting to go in and out of blurriness.

The same question was always asked, “Do you know any of these assassins?!” and he always answered with silence.

Dr. Grey sighed into his hand and nodded at the guard to take out the mouth piece.

Hack coughed and wetted his lips before speaking, “I know all of them.” He inwardly smirked when the Dr. looked at him with borderline hopeful eyes. Hack chuckled again and kept quiet. Give the man something to chew on and get angrier.

The doctor’s face changed to rage and he more or less yelled, “Put the mouth piece back in!” He looked back at Hack as he was forced back into the gag, he waited until their eyes connected before saying his next words, “Set it to the highest.”

Hack felt the current rip through his body with force. Every muscle tensed, every nerve felt ready to fray and every one of his bones felt hollow. He felt his heart beat even faster as he convulsed against his bindings. Hack squeezed his eyes shut from the pain and let out a scream around the mouth piece.

His breathing came in audible strangled gasps and he couldn’t control any of his body. Spasms rocked through him as the electric shock continued and even major residual tremors followed after they turned it off.

Hack let out a few pants after they removed the gag again and let his head roll to the side. He was completely tense and his eyes closed as he took quick breaths with audible noises.

Ice water was thrown on him which had made his head jerk up and was wide eyed.

Dr. Grey was smiling again, “Ready to comply?”

Hack swallowed around his tongue which felt fuzzy to him, “That one.” He pointed to the blonde girl in black and katana, “Her favorite color is pink.” He forced his face to respond to give the man a smirk and felt very proud when the smile was wiped off of his face.

“Do it again.”

“But sir, with the water the electric shock would kill him.”

Dr. Grey growled at the guard and glared at Hack, “Fine, then string him up. Make sure it’s the proper height.” He sneered at the hacker, “Wouldn’t want him to be uncomfortable.”

___

Hack’s cuffs had been attached to another pulley system but this time to the ceiling. He was lifted so that his toes just barely touched the ground in their relaxed state. When the strain on his arms got to be too much he had to reach with his feet and try to stand to take the pressure off. The constant weight on his already cut up wrists weren’t doing any wonders for his comfort either.

Doing this helped his arms but it also started to make his calves and shins burn so he had to switch off between positions. It took a few hours before he started cursing out loud instead of in his head.

It was obvious that they weren’t going to kill him off quickly.

After the first night, (he didn’t really have any windows or clocks to tell time so the night was a best guess.) Dr. Grey had told him that they would give him a small break from the chair.

He had his guards proceed to beat him up.

Kicking, punching, elbows and knees were all used in the session. Hack felt two of his ribs crack and twisted something in his knee and left elbow when he fell.

His bruises were not going to look pretty after a few hours. He was sure that he had at least one black eye and a split lip. He had a suspicion that his nose was bleeding from his constant sniffing that had developed after a slam against the wall.

After almost passing out they doused Hack in ice water again and hung him up in the same way as the time before. He was able to sneak a few ice cubes into his mouth to help his thirst before they grabbed him from the floor.

Hack fought against the tears but a few slipped out as he changed positions for the, what seemed like, hundredth time that night. He tried to pull himself up with his arms and let out a grunt when his strength failed him.

He let out a string of curses when the cuffs bit into his wrists and his shoulders jerked very unpleasantly. He felt warm slick blood slowly travel down to his elbows (again).

Hack let his forehead rest against his arms and took a few deep breaths. His legs and arms were killing him. He was sore all over from the beating that he got earlier and he could still feel phantom electric shocks.

He could only guess what they were going to do the next day.

Hack didn’t have to wait longer than another hour before they came back to collect him.

His wrists were secured behind him this time; he allowed himself a small unnoticeable breath at the lack of pressure on his wounds even if it was only a few seconds. Then it was more painful when they were cut into again.

The Dr. grinned at the noticeable wince the assassin gave, “I certainly hope you’re enjoying your stay here. We’re trying our best to give you the whole experience.” He shrugged and turned away, “You could say we’re giving you the VIP treatment.”

Hack rolled his eyes, “I think your damn beds are in need of some major fluffing.” He tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow sassily, “I barely got any fucking sleep.”

Dr. Grey just smirked back at him, “Then I’m sure we can relocate you if it’s that much of a burden.” He clapped his hands and nodded to the two guards, “But for now, let’s get on with today’s activity shall we?”

He turned serious and leaned down in front of the hacker, “Tell me about these assassins.”

Every single time Hack was subject to the ‘questioning’ the blurry pictures of fellow assassins always watched over him almost tauntingly. He knew it was a ploy to get him to turn against them. He also knew that no matter what he wasn’t getting out of the Headquarters.

He wasn’t going to take anyone down with him.

“They like to steal things.”

The Dr. just sighed and straightened again, “You put up such a fight James but I know you’re barely holding on now. I can see your weariness.” He pinned him with a searching stare, “I can see that you’ve come to accept your fate.” His eyes turned kind again, “I can make your last moments peaceful. End it quickly.”

Hack’s eyes were pulled to a movement; the guards were dragging a basin of what looked like water towards them.

Ah. So it was drowning today.

“You know you’re doing this to yourself James.” Dr. Grey turned to stand beside the chair and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder making Hack wince, “You could end it. You could end your suffering.” He leaned down and whispered beside his face, “Just give me a few names, addresses, the location that you saw them last. I’m not picky.”

Hack watched impassively as the basin was pulled to just in front of him. He stared at the water and noted with a muted surprise of how terrible he looked in the reflection.

Swollen cheek (most likely a fracture), black eye, miscellaneous cuts just on his face alone. He could only guess what his entire body looked like. His wrists were no doubt on the way to being heavily infected and yet, he wasn’t afraid.

This is what it feels like to be ready to die, he mused.

“Go fuck yourself.”

His chair was tipped forward and his head held down under the surface of the water.

‘ _At least I don’t have to worry about being thirsty today._ ’ He thought sarcastically before he started to need air.

Dr. Grey watched in sick fascination as the body’s thrashing started to lose its aggressiveness. He liked to bring them back right before they had a chance to embrace the darkness. Right when they started to accept that there was no hope.

He pulled Hack’s head back up by his hair and held him as the brunet coughed up the water. Dr. Grey let Hack have two coughs before extending him arm and pushing the hacker back into the water. He didn’t care if his coat got wet. After all, it had seen more than just water.

Hack inhaled harshly and coughed. He braced himself for another dunking and was proved right when he felt the water on his face again. He was losing consciousness faster with each round and didn’t actually know if he was going to survive this one. He felt the doctor pull on his hair again but this time he felt hard patting on his back to help him cough up the water.

“Feel like talking now?”

“I feel like kicking you’re-” Hack managed to complete his sentence underwater.

The Dr. sighed and looked to one of his guards as if to say ‘assassins, am I right?’ and pulled Hack back out of the water.

“- fucking ass.” The brunet grunted out between coughing up most of the water. He blinked back his tears and squeezed his eyes shut to get the excess water off of his eyelashes.

The Dr. chucked and leaned down so he was next to the assassin’s ear, “I have all day Hack. I’m being paid to do this. I’m positive that my resolve will hold longer than your life.” He yanked on the handful of hair that he had again, “The question is, will you go peacefully? Or…” He pushed Hack’s face to just above the water, “Painfully?”

Hack glared at the water, still breathing heavily. He felt dull throbs of pain and realized that his thrashing probably screwed up his wrists even more.

But his answer wouldn’t change. These fuckers killed his parents for the stupid reason of job security. With that thought he relaxed his shoulders and smirked, “See you in hell, assh-.”His head was pushed under the water again.


	18. Chapter 18

Nathan’s favorite places were the vents. Sure, it was an obvious choice, but people always forgot they were there. Vents are perfect places to infiltrate as well as get around the building since they go everywhere.

He tapped the communicator in his ear and allowed himself a breath of relief when two taps came back. He wasn’t sure if the signal would have worked long distances.

With Nazz being further away with her rifle and Kevin outside of the walls waiting for a signal it was important for them to be able to contact.

They were using some of Hack’s electronics; Nathan also carried a bag with a few of the hacker’s things as well. He knew how independent Hack was and figured if anything he brought some just in case.

_“Set.”_

_“Ditto.”_

“ _Waiting on you Jester.”_

Nathan rolled his eyes and continued through the vent, “It’s pretty complicated in here, hold tight will you?” He whispered out.

“ _Hey I’m not complaining. I got the easy job.”_ He could feel her smirk through the line and decided to ignore her quip. The quicker that he could find Hack the quicker they could get out of there.

“This place gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“ _You’re the dumbass that volunteered to go inside_.” Sometimes he wondered why he had certain friends.

“Shut up Kev.”

Nathan heard voiced coming from the grating about twelve feet in front of him and tapped the communicator to quiet the chatter. He carefully crawled forward and stopped just enough that he could see inside of the room through his mask.

“You know how to stop this James.”

There was a grunt of pain and a light jingle of chains.

“Just give me some information.”

“Fuck off.”

Nathan allowed himself a small smile before it was wiped off his face.

Hack wasn’t able to muffle his yell when the man in the lab coat pulled Hack’s body downward. The cuffs on his wrists looked like they were digging into his skin harshly. He wasn’t moving anywhere. The man just put weight against the restraints making more blood travel down Hack’s arms.

From the stains and the state of his wrists Nathan would have to guess that this had happened before, “Located. Whenever you’re ready.” He barely breathed. He braced himself inside of the vent and a short few seconds later a loud ‘ _BOOM_ ’ was heard.

The building shook and a few alarms started going off.

The men inside of the room quickly left, only the man in the white lab coat stopped long enough to raise Hack off of the floor entirely, “We’ll be back. Hopefully by then you’re hands won’t have fallen off.” With that he left the room.

Nathan listened for a few seconds, forcing himself to ignore the almost soundless whimpers as the hacker struggled to lift the weight off of his wrists.

Satisfied with the lack of people he started unscrewing the vent and making himself known, “You look like shit.”

Hack startled and blinked through his haze. He felt like he hadn’t slept in days. (Which was probably accurate.) “…Depending on how long I’ve been in here-” he grunted in pain again, “-You’re probably a hallucination.” Hack tried to look up at the vent but was unable to due to his position, “Even you aren’t stupid enough to break in here.”

The grate dropped to the floor and Nathan jumped down, “And that would be where you’re wrong, sweet cheeks.” He quickly went forward to the pulley system and lowered Hack to the floor.

Hack let out a small groan as the weight was taken off of his wrists. He let himself sink to the ground and sit, “Fuck me.”

Nathan brought over the keys to the cuffs and grinned, “Maybe later.”

Hack scoffed, “Fuck off.”

“Uh, hey dude I’m the one rescuing here. Little gratitude would be nice?” He said jokingly as he took off Hack’s cuffs. He carefully peeled the metal from the deep wounds and ignored Hack’s hiss and curse of pain, “Sorry.” Nathan turned the wrists over carefully so he could see the full extent of the damage and found that they were majorly infected. He whispered a curse and ripped off two scraps of fabric from his own outfit to wrap around the gashes.

Hack breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, “Please tell me you at least brought some of my things.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow and smiled even though Hack couldn’t see it, “Of course. Who do you think I am?” He took off the backpack and held it out for the hacker. He watched him take the headset as well as the hacking device and a flash drive (was that a bunny?!) from it.

Hack looked tiredly up at Nathan and gave a minuscule half-shrug, “Not sure about the state of my hands with holding a weapon. Think you could cover me?”

Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, “Cover you? What are you gonna do?” He helped the brunet up and if Hack needed something to lean on for a few seconds then Nathan ignored it.

Hack flashed him a humorless smile, “What I do best.” He turned on his headset and blinked when he heard the two other transmissions coming from outside. He was silent for a few seconds (which Nathan had assumed was in anger) before he spoke, “And here I thought Nathan was alone in his insane idea.”

There were dual chuckles from both of the fellow assassins and Hack left it at that. After all, he had some work to do. Although he did shoot Nat a look that said the conversation wasn’t over. He was going to bring it up after getting out of this place, and probably after he ate too… possibly sleeping would be a good idea as well.

Nathan walked forward to listen at the door before opening it and scouting for anyone.

Hack heard a single gunshot and then it was quiet. He peeked out through the doorway and after an all clear sign from Nathan he walked out as well. Hack immediately spotted a computer and went straight for it. He dimly registered Nathan covering the doors right behind him.

“Should you be doing that with your hands?”

Hack’s lips gave a small twitch, “Do you propose I do it with my feet?” He gave into his urge to smile wryly when Nazz’s soft laughter filtered through the headset. It wasn’t comfortable, most likely doing more bad than good to his already torn up wrists but he needed to do this.

Nathan stayed quiet and watched the doors. He didn’t want Hack to get anymore hurt that he already was. Just from the way he was walking the brunet probably already had at least one fractured rib and a sprained knee. Then there was his face and his wrists which were obvious enough, “Why are you hacking into The Headquarters?”

“Their drives aren’t online. It’s impossible for me to get into here from outside. I just need certain things.” Hack plugged in his bunny flash drive and started downloading, “This shouldn’t take that long.” He spared a glance to Nathan, “Believe me, I want to get out of here more than you do.”

Nathan nodded knowing it was the truth and then spoke again, this time aiming his question to his friend, “Kev, can you distract for a few more minutes than planned?”

“ _Sure, I love playing with these ass-wipes.”_

“I had no doubt. Nazz you got him?”

_“Affirmative.”_

He heard a light beep and glanced back to see that the flash drive had finished downloading, “Ready now?”

“One more second.” Hack turned to look at a camera, flipped it off, and hit another key on the computer, “Turned off their system.”

Nate gave an impressed noise and glanced back to the doors, “Ready?”

Hack nodded and tucked the drive and his device into the backpack before taking out his spare gun, “Nothing personal.” He said to Nathan’s slightly tilted head.

Nathan shrugged, “Whatever suits you.” And he started leading them out of the compound, “I would ask you to go through the vents with me, but crawling on hands and knees and all that jazz.”

Hack grunted noncommittally and followed, covering their six. He noticed his hands were shaking but forced himself to stop. It didn’t work as well as he would have liked. Hack knew that the lack of food and sleep (And let’s face it, his hands weren’t in that great of condition either.) could all be used as an excuse. But that didn’t mean he liked it.

‘ _Fuck it all. Torture is overrated.’_ He didn’t realize that in his daze of half running on exhaustion that he said that out loud. Hack ignored Nathan’s look of concern and continued with watching for any signs of ACS agents.

They ran into a few stray officers to which Nathan took out since they were in front and stopped just inside of the doors that lead to freedom, “You ready for this? It’s going to get a bit harder.”

Hack rolled his eyes and nodded, “You better take me to dinner first though.” He blamed his tortured mind set and the sudden need to _get out_ for his behavior. He reached around the stunned assassin and pushed open the door.

Nathan quickly recovered and started shooting when a few people started looking over to them, “Nazz.”

There were a few more shots that neither of them fired and five more guys had fallen, leaving them a clear line to escape.

Hack swallowed at the sight and raised his gun to shoot another on the balcony. He cursed when it wasn’t clean and shot the man again. He followed Nathan’s quick pace and kept his eyes peeled for any others.

It looked like Kevin had most of the agents sufficiently distracted and only the few left were practical guards.

Nathan led them to a fire escape and jumped to pull the ladder down, “You good?” He looked back at Hack when the other paused for a few seconds.

Hack breathed in and nodded, “Yeah.” He minutely winced at the small stabs of pain in his wrists as he climbed the ladder. He knew that the rooftops were the best place to get around and away. Hack managed to keep in his noises of pain all the way to the top and stopped again. He never realized how much he used his hands.

Nathan paused as well and crouched in front of him, “Hey, tell me what hurts.” He slid up the mask so it only rested on the top of his head and looked into the darker eyes.

Hack let out a small chuckle, “It might be a shorter list of what not hurts.” He saw Nate’s lips turn into a thin line and he nodded.

“Alright, we’re regrouping at mine…” He paused again, “I dunno if you’re gonna hit me for suggesting this but how opposed to you are to piggy-backs?”

Hack weighed the pain of punching Nate to the satisfaction of punching him and decided it wasn’t worth it, “I’ll get you back later.” He stood back up and breathed in again.

Nathan smirked and then pulled back down the mask, “You good?” he asked again.

Hack just nodded. With that they both started at a quick pace towards Nathan’s house. He wasn't sure how much longer his adrenaline would be lasting and he would rather be inside somewhere safe than out in the open.

 


	19. Chapter 19

Hack sat down on the toilet of Nathan’s bathroom. He watched as the other pulled out a first aid kit and started looking through it. Hack was exhausted. He didn’t realize that he closed his eyes until he felt a light tapping on his forehead. Hack grunted and tried swatting at it before looking at what had bugged him.

Nathan smiled and shrugged, “No sleeping until you’re fed.” He grinned at Hack’s eye roll and continued unwrapping a long gauze pad. He gently took the other’s gashed up wrist and held it over the sink, “This is going to hurt a bit.”

Hack took a deep breath and nodded. He watched as the liquid was poured over his wrist and hissed at the sudden stinging. Hack instinctively tried to pull his arm away but Nathan held onto his uninjured forearm firmly.

After the initial wince Hack just went to watching as the foam bubbled against the open wounds. It was painful, but he knew that it was something that needed to be done. He extended his other arm and nodded at the container.

Nathan poured it over the other wrist and put the bottle down after it started to bubble on his wrist.

Hack sighed out and placed his head on his arms. He only dimly registered Nathan gently wiping off his wrists and wrapping the gauze around them. He blinked and sat up slowly when Nathan pushed his shoulder gently.

“Alright, what else?”

Hack shook his head, “Nothing,” He continued at Nathan’s doubtful look, “There’s nothing else that’s open.” He stood up slowly, paused halfway and sat back down. He realized that his adrenaline was nonexistent, “Fuck, I want to sleep.”

Nathan nodded, “You can after you eat.” He held out one of his hands to help Hack up from the toilet.

Hack didn’t think he had the ability to react when his stomach growled unpleasantly, “…Yeah, that sounds good.” He took Nathan’s hand and stood slowly. His gaze fell to his wrists as Nathan gently pulled him out of the bathroom and down the hall. The gauze already had small tints of pink leaking through.

He blinked and was sitting at the table with a bowl of soup in front of him. Hack closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. He picked up the spoon and started eating the food slowly.

Nathan was leaning against the counter, tapping his fingers and trying not to watch Hack.

The quiet was uneasy between them. And truth be told Hack was used to the other talking in any silence.

Hack finished half of the soup and set down the spoon. He folded his hands on the table, barely wincing, and lifted an eyebrow at Nathan.

Nate blinked at Hack and furrowed his eyebrows together. He stopped tapping his fingers but he didn’t say anything.

The silence hung for a few more moments before Hack scoffed and shook his head again, “Are you going to say anything?”

Nate blinked again and glanced quickly to his floor then back, “Umm…” He was at a huge loss of what to do. He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, “What… uh… what should I even say?” He was nervous at how Hack could have changed inside of the place. Nate didn’t even know how long he had been in there for.

What was even the norm of talking to someone who had just gone through torture?

Hack shrugged and glanced at his soup, “Ask me questions and be annoying. Don’t be quiet. It’s fucking weird.”

Nathan chuckled lightly and nodded, “Did you want to go to bed now?”

Hack’s shoulders slumped downward, “Fuck Yessss.” He pushed himself up and stayed braced against the table for a few moments as the vertigo went away. When he opened his eyes, Nathan was next to him, holding his arm gently. Hack swallowed around the sudden amount of saliva in his mouth and blinked at the assassin.

He didn’t feel an urge to jerk back from Nathan.

Hack had just been tortured for who knows how long and in a place where he was watched twenty-four seven, asked questions that would ease his suffering if he answered correctly. He had been alone for so long and untrusting of everyone and everything.

The fact that he was willingly letting his guard down inside of the unfamiliar house was because he was **with** Nathan.

Hack trusted Nathan.

He felt safe with the other assassin.

Hack blinked away his sudden realization and nodded to whatever Nate had said. By common sense he figured Nathan had just asked if he was okay, “Sleep, I fucking need sleep.” As he followed Nathan he was hit by another thought, “What’s the date today?” He asked almost hesitantly.

Nathan paused minutely and glanced back, “The fifteenth.” He knew why Hack had asked that and he watched the hacker realize how long he had been inside of The Headquarters.

Three and a half days.

_Three and a half **bloody** days._

Hack felt immensely more tired at the thought of not being able to sleep for that entire time, “Shit.” He wiped at his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

Nathan guided him to his room and gently pushed him towards the bed, “Sleep, then we’ll figure out what to do next, okay?” He wanted to know how long Hack was in The Headquarters but knew not to push for an answer at the moment.

Hack crawled into the bed and pulled the cover back. “I already know what I’m doing next.” He said as he pushed his feet underneath the blanket and pulled it over his torso. Now that he was surrounded by softness Hack didn’t think he would be able to get out of it ever again. He forced his eyes open and watched Nathan watch him.

The teal haired assassin half-smiled and idly smoothed out the sheet that was close to him, “You’re safe here alright? I’ll make sure no one finds you here.” He said seriously.

Hack knew that was an impossible promise but it was a nice sentiment. He closed his eyes and let the soreness behind his eyes take him into darkness.

Nathan watched as the stress of the past few however many days melted off of Hack’s face. He was tempted to join the hacker in sleep but he knew that he had a debriefing to do with Nazz and Kevin.

He sighed softly and left the room to go to the kitchen where the other two were now waiting. Nat had told them not to be visible just in case Hack had a problem. Now that the hacker was asleep they could come out of hiding.

“Hey guys.”

Nazz nodded, she was sitting at the table where Hack had been and Kevin just stood next to her watching his best friend, “So how long?” he asked.

“Didn’t ask.”

Nazz tapped her fingernail on the table, “Do we know what he took from the computer?”

Nathan shook his head and sat down at the table, “I know that he’s going to do something with it when he’s good to go.” Probably a little before then but Nathan wouldn’t fight it. Hack was a stubborn little shit when he wanted to be.

The debriefing continued on with Nazz and Kevin relaying how many were killed and the specifics of how they got away and lost the tails.

Nathan, in return, told them what he and Hack had went through, both before he had recovered Hack and after that. He saw them both give small tells that they were impressed by Hack’s competency with the computer right after being tortured for however long.

After about thirty minutes they were done with it and Nathan invited them to stay inside of his house considering they were all wiped out from the job.

He made sure they had their own rooms and were comfortable, even though he knew they wouldn’t sleep for a while. Hell they would probably take shifts of looks outs since they were in an unfamiliar place and had just done a highly stressful job.

Breaking into The Headquarters.

Nathan still couldn’t believe that they were successful. He shook his head with a small smile and entered his room. And then he was faced with another dilemma.

Hack was in his bed.

Should he try to sleep in it with him? How mad would Hack be when they woke up? Nathan paused for a few more moments before changing into more comfortable sleep clothes.

What the hell.

It was his bed after all.


	20. Chapter 20

Hack woke up in stages. First the only thing that he registered was warmth. A very nice warmth that surrounded him and he didn’t want to open his eyes so he didn’t. Opting instead to bask in the heat.

The second thing that he registered was a constant movement on his shoulder. The reason why it took longer for him to notice was because it was almost nonexistent. Although once he did become aware of the sensation he couldn’t ignore it.

Thirdly he realized that his pillow was breathing.

His pillow was breathing.

Pillows don’t breath.

Therefore he wasn’t lying on a pillow.

As he became more aware, his body started to tense slightly. The movement on his shoulder stopped and there was a shifting from his not-pillow above his head.

Hack slowly rose from the spot and looked up to stare at Nathan. His wrists stung slightly and his shoulders protested the movement from soreness.

Nate just smiled and stared back, “Morning.”

“What are you doing.”

Nathan blinked and a little crease appeared between his eyebrows, “I was sleeping.”

“What are you doing _here._ ” Hack quickly became annoyed at the lack of actual response.

“Your ability to make questions sound like statements is astounding.” Nathan said still smiling. He hadn’t moved his arm from around Hack knowing that it might be taken as a sign of attack. (Assassin’s reflexes as well as their fight or flight response with just waking up might make him lose a finger.) “This is my bed.” He continued, answering Hack’s question.

Hack slowly, due to his injuries and now apparent soreness of his limbs, rose into a sitting position and kept staring with a slight glare at Nate.

Nathan took his arm back and set it on his stomach still smiling. This was fun.

Hack finally took in his own appearance and noticed that there were two more bandages on his body. One on his left elbow and the other around his knee. His ribs felt sore from sleeping on his stomach as well.

“I noticed when I came and got you, you were favoring one leg over the other, and when you were handling your gun there was an obvious over correction.” Nathan said quietly. He sat up and started tapping his thumbs together.

Hack gently bend his arm back and forth and then nodded in thanks, “How long was I out for?”

Nathan glanced to the clock by his bed and then looked at Hack again, “About 9 hours.” He reached his arms over his head and arched his back in a stretch, “You should probably get some more sleep though, I’m guessing they didn’t let you rest in there.” He was avoiding the use of any words that might trigger the hacker just in case.

Hack thought about his words for a few moments before making to stand up, “I would prefer a shower. I feel fucking disgusting.”

Nathan quickly got up and stood by the bed to help if he needed it, “Maybe a bath wo-”

“No baths.”

Nate knew that tone of voice and he didn’t argue, “Shower it is then.”

After a few minutes of fiddling with the dials he set it to a comfortable temperature and awkwardly stood in the bathroom for a few seconds before Hack’s deadpan stare made him leave.

Okay, to be fair, it would have been very weird if he was in the bathroom as well.

Nathan sat on the bed and listened for any signs that meant he needed to get back in there to help Hack.

Hack meanwhile unwrapped all of his bandages besides his wrists (soap in them would be painful.) and got into the stream of liquid. He relished the warm water running down his body and sighed lightly. When he figured he should actually wash himself he looked for the shampoo.

No way was he going to be in a bath anytime soon. The last major bit of torture had made sure of that.

He scrubbed lightly at his scalp and let it wash out, watching the suds swirl around the drain before draining completely away.

After he was done he dressed in the change of clothing that was on the toilet seat (Nathan must have snuck in to leave them there.) and sighed again, his bandages would have to be replaced.

Nathan knocked after a few minutes after the shower stopped and peeked in at Hack’s noise of acknowledgement, “I’ll have to wrap those again.” He nodded at the still wrapped but soaked wrists and entered fully when he noticed that Hack was dressed.

After the re-bandaging, Hack was seated on the bed again. Nathan joined him after returning the first-aid kit back to its rightful spot.

There was an intense silence around them for a second time.

Hack looked at his wrists again, “Stay on your damn side if you sleep here again.” With that he slowly rolled over, facing away from Nathan and pulled the blanket back up to his face, he was still exhausted and the soreness of his arms and legs was something that he couldn’t ignore anymore. Hopefully with sleep it would go away more quickly.

Nathan covered his laugh with a cough and shook his head. Hack had been on Nathan’s side. He thought it was cute that Hack was a cuddler.

After a short while Nathan hunkered down and got comfortable on his side again and started going to work from his phone. He needed to find out where that doctor had gotten off to.

The doctor that was torturing Hack had somehow hid away from all of the gunfire and disappeared for now. Nathan was organizing a small force to find him. The force consisted of Nazz, Kevin, as well as the Eds. He would have rather not used them but truth be told they could be a good team if they had the right motivation.

Kevin had said that he would take care of it and that Hack’s identity would be kept out of it.

It also helped that they owed Nathan a favor.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he was suddenly aware of more warmth than normal against his side. Nathan glanced over from his phone and smiled at Hack who was now curled up right next to Nathan.

Letting the smile grow, he softly wrapped his arm around the hacker again and continued on his phone. He reflexively started rubbing light circles with his thumb on Hack’s shoulder again.

After a few moments the hacker scooted around so that he was lying on his back against Nathan’s side and grunted lightly in pain.

That definitely caught Nathan’s attention. He put his phone down on the bed and actually watched the hacker. He noticed that Hack was breathing shallowly and had furrowed his eyebrows like he was uncomfortable. Nate left his one arm around Hack and reached forward with his other to lightly feel the ribs.

He drew back when Hack breathed in sharply and let out another grunt.

Nathan glared at the ceiling. That fucker gave Hack broken ribs. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything he could do except for pain medication. Ribs were tricky and they had to heal on their own. There was no real way to set them without an actual doctor.

Fortunately it seemed like it was just a simple fracture. So there would be no need to set them.

Knowing that he couldn’t do much until the hacker woke up again; he set his phone on his bedside table and relaxed into the bed. Nathan wondered if Hack would be annoyed.

This time though he would point out that Hack was on his side.

He felt Hack turn his head towards his chest and shift slightly. Nathan closed his eyes and felt the need to bang his head on something.

The warm feeling in his chest was all too familiar. He opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling. He fell hard and fast for the hacker.

Sure he could pretend with Hack in his arms that they were something but he also knew that it was an unhealthy road to go down. He swallowed down his sadness and closed his eyes to rest his head against the hacker’s. He smiled against the soft, damp hair.

Maybe just for tonight it wouldn’t be so bad. He could go back to whatever they were when they woke up again.

But tonight he was allowing himself to drift off into sleep with the fantasy.


	21. Chapter 21

This time when Hack awoke the soreness was at a more manageable level although still pretty bad. He moved to stretch but stopped when he felt the stab of pain in his ribs, “Fuck.” He whispered and chose to curl back into his previous position. Hack sighed in annoyance and buried his face in his pillow.

…

Not-pillow.

…

“What did I say Goldberg.” He mumbled, too lazy and sore at the moment to move from the warmth. Hack really didn’t care. He was being a pain because he somehow knew it wasn’t the other assassin’s fault.

Nathan chuckled, “Don’t blame this on me, I’m on my side.” He expected Hack to get up or at least roll over but what he didn’t expect was Hack to just sigh and stay put. Nathan blinked and stared at the ceiling in confusion. He knew reading into it would cause trouble for himself (After all, Hack liking _him?_ Hah.) So he just stayed put and let the hacker lie for as long as he needed.

Besides, Nathan wasn’t the one who was tortured. Maybe it was Hack’s way of coping with it or something. And it wasn’t like Nathan was _against_ Hack finding comfort in him. In fact he was for it, very _very_ much for it.

Hack felt more tired than when he originally fell asleep, ‘ _Must have woken in the middle of a cycle._ ’ He hated when that happened.

Usually when that happened at his own place he would end up bumping into different things. Things like shelves, walls and desks. It might be embarrassing if he lived with anyone but he couldn’t care less.

Hack cleared his throat and slowly lifted himself up onto his hands. He kept his eyes closed because they were still sore, “D-you have water?” Hack didn’t even realize how grainy his voice sounded from sleep. He continued up to a sitting position and tilted his head from side to side to stretch out the kinks.

Nathan shook himself out of the ‘holy shit he’s adorable with bed-head’ trance he was in and got up to get a cup, “Yeah, one second.” He quickly got the glass filled, as well as splashing some water on his own face and drying it off, and brought it back to his room.

Hack was face down in the sheets with the blanket entirely over him.

Nathan laughed and pulled the cover down. When Hack’s head turned to glare he held the water within eyesight of the hacker. Dark eyes flickered to the glass and he begrudgingly pushed himself back up into a sitting position.

Nathan handed the water over and picked back up his phone. As fun and carefree this was, he still needed to give Hack the bad news. He waited until the injured was done with the water before picking up his phone, “So, uh, the doctor guy…”

Hack’s attention was all on Nathan now. The glass was gripped tightly from the mention of Dr. Grey. All traces of his grogginess had disappeared.

“He wasn’t found in the bodies, so we’re all assuming that he made it out of there alive.” Nathan ran a hand through his teal hair, “I mean we weren’t targeting anyone. You were the priority.”

Hack carefully set the glass down and glared at his hands, specifically his wrists, “I need a computer.” He said quietly.

Nathan hesitated only for a second before nodding and standing to go to his small desk in the corner of the room.

While he was doing that, Hack held his right wrist and lightly ran his fingers over the bandages and then did the same to his left hand. Dr. Grey was going to pay for what he did to his parents. He was snapped out of his reverie when a laptop was set in front of him.

Nathan took the bunny flash drive out of his pocket and set it next to Hack on the bed, “I’m betting that you want that as well.” Nathan locked eyes with Hack for a few moments before nodded and making to leave the room, “Uh, if you need me just yell, okay?”

Hack nodded and picked up the flash drive. He stopped himself from plugging it in and decided to think about what just happened. It didn’t seem like Nathan approved of his use of a computer so soon after coming back, but he kept quiet.

It showed Hack that Nathan trusted him with his own choices. Hack twirled the flash drive as he thought about his relationship with Nathan. He turned it around, popped the head off then re-capped it and tapped his finger against it a few times.

Why had Nathan saved him? And why was he caring for Hack’s wellbeing after the fact? Why was he updating Hack about the lack of the doctor? Why didn’t he just push Hack off of him as they slept. And most importantly;

Why did Hack care so much?

Nathan had broken into the one building that no assassin had ever attempted to before just to save Hack. Sure he had help but Nazz and Kevin had no idea who he was before Nathan let it slip. (Speaking of, he needed to glare at Nathan for that.) So they didn’t owe Hack anything, hell Nathan didn’t owe Hack anything!

And yet Nathan risked his life on a 1000-1 scale that he would come out alive. What did that mean?

Also why was he constantly checking to make sure that Hack’s bandages were fresh and changed? Not too tight or loose for that matter. He told Hack that the doctor had gotten away for what? So that he would be aware that the man who tortured him was still out there?

Hack stared at the bunny head and pulled off the cap again before sliding it back on.

Why did Nathan allow Hack to cuddle him?

The brunet blinked and dropped the flash drive on the bed in front of him when he put everything together. Nathan didn’t just like him.

Nathan _liked_ him.

Holy shit.

Hack felt heat crawl up his neck to his face and he felt confused. And what the hell did _that_ reaction mean?


	22. Chapter 22

Compartmentalize. Compartmentalize. Compartmentalize.

It was his figurative middle name for a damn _reason_!

Hack needed to find out where Dr. Grey was hiding. And he couldn’t do that if stupid conflicting _feelings_ about Nathan were getting in the way. He knew he had to get the air clear and figure them out but for now he was acting like a little boy that just got cooties.

On the inside of course.

At the moment he was tracing last known locations, looking through surveillance videos and downloading everything from his flash drive.

While he went through the footage of his torture, Hack was sitting with one of his arms wrapped around his middle and his other hand resting on the mouse pad for fast-forwarding, rewinding and pausing. He needed to see certain things and he was also morbidly curious about how everything looked now that he wasn’t actively going through it.

Nathan had come into the room halfway through it.

Hack ignored the other looking over his shoulder and continued on with watching. He felt more than saw the other becoming tense. It was in the atmosphere and how it seemingly shifted.

“…Why are you watching it?”

Hack noted that the tone was controlled and lacked emotion, “Mostly to pass the time as this fucking finishes-” He switched windows and showed the tracking program he set up to scan through all electronic databases and then switched it back, “-as well as to find certain things the bastard said and use them to my advantage.”

Nathan slowly sat down next to the hacker to which he raised a dark eyebrow at the teal haired assassin in a silent question.

“D’you mind if I join you?”

Hack thought about it for a few moments before nodding. It wouldn’t hurt and if he really wanted to watch the footage with him, who was Hack to stop him?

Wow. After the second electrocution they had induced a seizure, and did absolutely nothing about it. They just stood there staring with disinterest as his body spasmed.

Hack’s lips went into a thin line thinking about the proper procedure for seizure victims before he realized how tense Nathan was beside him. He glanced over and took in the cold look in his eyes, the edgy stiffness in his shoulders and how he was biting his lip on the inside of his mouth.

Hack lightly tapped his side with his fingers before reaching out and placing one of his hands on Nathan’s knee. He knew watching this wasn’t going to be particularly easy on the other. (It wasn’t that easy on himself either.)

Goldberg closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. With his breath, it seemed like all of the stress left his body, “Sorry, I shouldn’t even be reacting like this.” ‘ _It didn’t even happen to me for fucks sake._ ’

Hack just quirked an eyebrow in response before turning back to the screen and editing the footage again. He left his hand on Nathan’s knee though, just in case he started stressing out.

He told himself that it was for the assassin to remember that he wasn’t going through it anymore. Although unconsciously he had been getting tenser with watching it over again and flashbacks were not a fun thing to relive sometimes.

After a while, Nathan got up quietly and left without a word. Hack blinked and moved his hand to wrap it back around his middle. He felt a sort of uneasiness fall over him at the thought of going through the rest of the footage by himself again. He stared at the paused screen. Hack took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He pressed the play button and watched as the men dunked his head underneath the water for the tenth time.

He felt his heart rate spike and paused it again. It was so much harder going through it alone now. Hack’s eyes were closed and he took a few controlled breaths. He deliberately reminded himself of where he was and what he was doing.

“…Hey.”

Hack blinked open his eyes and looked to the doorway. He swallowed down his urge to vomit and replied, “What?” Hack refused to acknowledge his slightly shaky voice.

Nathan crossed over to the bed and slowly closed the laptop. He pulled it off of the hacker’s lap and held out his hand, “Time to take a break.” He smiled at Hack’s confused stare, “I’m sure the world doesn’t need any saving right now so you can take one right?”

Hack glanced at the laptop and then back to Nathan’s hand, “Fine.” He reached for the hand and got out of the bed. He didn’t realize it had already been a few hours between the editing and re-watching the footage.

“I have some food left over if you want any. Is that alright?” Nathan said looking at the clock on the bedside table.

Hack nodded and followed him to the kitchen, “That actually sounds fan-fucking-tastic.” he said, realizing that his stomach was pretty empty.

Nathan smiled back at him, “Great!”

Hack refused to think that his stomach was acting up for anything other than food.

Remember; grade-schooler with cooties.

They talked quietly, mostly Nathan about his early days of being an assassin and how stupid people could be sometimes (Something the hacker could relate to majorly.) and how he enjoyed certain jobs and hated others.

The conversation continued on to mundane topics until Hack asked something that had been bugging him for a while, “Why did you become an assassin?”

Nathan froze and glanced at Hack. He became unnaturally serious and sighed, “I won’t insult you by lying.” Nathan closed his eyes and then looked to the floor, “It sounded like fun.”

Hack’s lips pursed with controlled anger. Nathan jumped into a job not because he had to but because it sounded like fun to do. No forcing of any kind, his parents were most likely still alive and invited him over for Sunday night dinners or some crap like that and he was an assassin.

Nathan could tell he pissed off Hack and stared impassively back at the hacker. There was nothing he could do to change the other’s mind about it. He did it because it sounded like fun. That was it.

The tense atmosphere was interrupted with a light beeping from Hack’s watch.

The hacker was back to his professional self in one second, “I found him.” He quickly got up and went back to the room the laptop was in and opened it. Hack immediately started typing on the machine.

Nathan had followed him back and watched, “What do you need?” he asked, fully professional as well.

Hack’s eyes glanced to his wrists and scowled back at the screen, “One, possibly two, partners willing to carry out an assassination.”

Nathan nodded and stretched his arms out behind him, “I can be ready in an hour, I can also contact Nazz…” He left the question out in the open for Hack to either accept or forego the offer.

Hack just nodded, “A sharp shooter would be good to have on hand just in case the close-quarters needs cover or backup.”

Nathan nodded back, “We can rendezvous in the kitchen?” At Hack’s nod he left to get his uniform and weapons ready. He shot off a quick text to Nazz and tried to forget how easily the hacker was able to brush him off.

It wasn’t the time for personal feelings.

 


	23. Chapter 23

Hack set up his laptop quickly and hooked his things into it, “You’ll need to be stealthy and quick. The amount of people covering him is more annoying than anything but they will have guns.” He glanced up from his typing and nodded at the two other assassins, “Thank you for doing this Nazz.”

The blonde just smiled and nodded, “Thank you for trusting me with it.” She wasn’t blind to the gravity of Hack’s trust. She knew that he probably hated that they knew who he was and what he looked like. Although it was very nice that he didn’t go on a spree of messing up their private records when he had the chance.

Nathan had his mask on so he didn’t have to keep tabs on his facial expressions. He started fiddling with his set of knives as Hack started to talk about the mission again. He was detailing the way they were going and what they had to do in order to stay under the radar but Nathan ignored most of it.

He knew it all already anyways.

He almost startled when Nazz elbowed him gently and quirked an eyebrow.

Nathan just shook his head slightly and ignored her. He knew that she could tell that something was wrong. It didn’t take that much to read the tense atmosphere between himself and the hacker. Nathan ran his finger over the blade gently, testing the sharpness before putting it away and straightening his stance.

“I have a set of earwigs for both of you, and so help me if it gets fucking lost you will have hell to pay.”

Nathan felt a grin stretch along his mouth and he gave a mock and over exaggerated salute, “Yes sir!” He pretended not to notice that Hack’s glare never lessened against him. Nathan could deal with it later and they can talk it out. Hopefully.

Hack got together his things and packed up to go with them to the location. No matter what he actually said he needed some visual confirmation that the man would be dead. He was in his field outfit and had most of his portable things in order to keep tabs on the two other assassins.

They all had their earpieces in and ready to go when Hack gave them the signal to continue forward. He watched them go through the underbrush and went back to his tracking device. Both of the earpieces had tracking and he could see them through two small red dots on his map.

He also had hacked into the compound’s security in order to watch from all the angles he could. Hack was under no delusion that he would be able to accurately fire a weapon several times with accuracy. (Of course the Dr. would have a protective posse.)

So he had resigned himself to just watching the fallout from his colleagues.

“Not running into anything yet.” Came a quiet update from Nazz.

Hack knew that it had referred to anything such as trip wires, bombs, traps of any kind. Even though the news was technically good, he couldn’t help the bad feeling that was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach, “Don’t let your guard down.”

“Never.”

Nathan came through the earpiece next, “In position, Let me know when you’re ready sharp-shooter.”

Hack watched on his screen as Nazz slowly went to her designated spot.

They had all discussed the best course of action before getting out there. Nazz would be on a covered plateau above the area while Nathan went into the kill zone and carried out his side.

The plateau wasn’t as all seeing as it could have been but there wasn’t a better choice for her sights. There were a few blind spots but she made sure that Nathan knew where they were and to avoid them at all costs.

He didn’t object since she was his cover in case the whole thing went down the shitter. Nathan had been receptive and listening during the whole briefing, which was a complete opposite to what he usually was with Hack. Hack figured it was because Nathan knew that the job was important and had to be taken seriously.

“Set.”

Hack breathed in quietly to settle his stomach. It was probably just a sickness that he picked up after the torture. Yeah, that sounded good.

He listened to the near silent gun shots through his headset and watched the scene through the cameras. One was turned a little bit too much so he altered it to face more towards the jester.

Hack watched the calm and collected (Completely different from what he was used to.) assassin take out three more men before they realized what was happening and walk deeper into the facility. It made him uncomfortable, “You have two more around that corner ahead of you.”

He saw Nathan give a small nod towards the camera before taking out the two men as well.

It was like he was a different person.

Nazz’s voice fizzled through the head set. “Grey zone.” It meant that she could cover him but not as well as it could be done.

“Roger.”

Hack felt like he was seeing another side to Nathan. One that was serious and calm and _good_ at his job. Hack pushed away his thoughts for another time and focused on the problem at hand.

This was way too easy.

“Hold on.” Hack said before typing on his laptop. Something wasn’t right. His gut was telling him as much.

All of the missions that he had a bad feeling about before he met Nathan all ended up the same. Badly. And that same feeling was twisting his stomach into knots at the current moment, “Jester I would advise to get out of there ASAP.”

“But we’re so close Hack. Why?” Nathan was confused and he let it show through his voice.

“Something’s not right.”

Nathan had a small urge to continue, knowing how important this was to Hack, but refrained. He didn’t need the hacker to be angrier at him than he already was. Nathan was about to turn around when he heard something bounce on the floor next to him, “Shit!”

He quickly kicked the canister that had started to release some sort of gas back the way it came and made a break for it.

Nathan knew that the quickest way out of there was through one of Nazz’s blind spots but with the sudden amount of gun fire he felt that he had no choice.

He heard her voice rise in frustration in his ear, along with Hack’s cursing, “Red!”

“I know!” he called back to both, not bothering with the stealth anymore, “Where are they even coming from?!” He called back, turning and shooting at a few of the agents that started chasing after him.

“I don’t fucking know! They’re not showing up on any of the-”

The thought was interrupted by a torrent of very creative curses that almost made Nathan pause his firing.

“I take it that’s a bad thing.” He said shooting another person down. He turned and focused on running when there wasn’t a reply. Nathan was almost out of Nazz’s blind spot when he felt something sharp pierce his back, “Fuck!”

He reached back as his run slowed to a job and felt something sticking out of him. Nathan pulled it out and looked at it, “Fuck.” He whispered. He dimly registered Hack’s and Nazz’s questions when he stumbled and fell to his knees. Nathan dropped the dart as he fell forward onto his hands, “Think I’ve just been drugged.” He said, not really hearing his voice

The shooting had stopped when he dropped, that was another hint. They weren’t going for a kill. They were going for a capture.

“Jester! Try to get out of the red zone!” Hack said staring at the screen. All he could do was watch as the assassin went down. He growled audibly when he saw a certain white coat make its way towards Nathan.

Nathan felt a foot press into his back and force him into the dirt fully. He grunted and closed his eyes against the spiking pain in his side and winced as the communicator was dug out of his ear.

He blinked against his fuzzy vision and was only able to understand a few words before he fully blacked out.

“ _Hello again, James”_


	24. Chapter 24

Hack sat at the kitchen table tapping his fingers angrily on the lacquered wood surface. He was ignoring the other two assassins in the room and going over the conversation that he had with the Dr. in his head.

There had to be something that he could do. He couldn’t just give up that simply and everything would go back to how it was. That wasn’t how the ACS worked.

They wanted results and right now they had leverage (Thankfully they didn’t know what kind of leverage, Hack doubted he even knew what kind it was either but that was beside the point.) He just knew that he screwed up with the way that he reacted over the communicator.

_“Hello again James.”_

_Hack had to take a very deep breath before he let himself reply, he couldn’t risk the man knowing how badly this had affected him, “Dr. To what do I owe this displeasure?” His words were controlled and monotone._

_He knew that Nazz was also listening. She couldn’t do anything either. She had either packed up and was heading back or in the process of it. Nazz knew that the ACS knew there was someone covering Nathan. And they would be after her if they weren’t already._

_“Oh come now James, our time together was pleasant and fun don’t you think?”_

_“Fuck off.”_

_Hack felt his anger rise at the chuckle that filtered through his ear. He watched as the Dr. gestured towards his lackeys to carry Nathan inside of the building, “What the fuck do you want.”_

_He knew he would have to move soon as well._

_“Just a chat.”_

_The man was quiet for a few moments. Hack knew he didn’t have time for the idling and so he started packing his stuff into his bag and getting ready to leave. He kept out the screen in order to keep an eye on things._

_“I still want information James.”_

_Hack stopped at the tone of voice and he felt his stomach start to cave into itself._

_“I will get it, and if you want your friend back then you’re going to have to do something for me.”_

_“What makes you think he’s my friend?” Hack said back sarcastically. At least his acting ability was still above average. He could feel his hands shaking with the Dr.’s hidden meanings._

_“Fair point, maybe I’ll just kill him then.”_

_Hack watched him wave his hand and the lackeys brought the unconscious assassin over and dropped him in front of the white shoes. Hack’s own breathing stopped when the Dr. Pulled out a gun. His eyes were burning with how wide they were at that moment._

_“After all, I have no need for extra baggage-”_

_Hack saw the index finger flex and he yelled, “STOP.” He felt the hand around his heart stop squeezing when the Dr. lowered the weapon._

_“Well.”_

_The brunet closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. He knew that he gave the Dr. what he needed at that point. A soft spot, “What do you want.”_

_“I already told you James!” The Dr. happily clapped his hands together and then waved his officers away. They picked up the body and carried it towards the building again, “I want information.”_

_Hack closed his eyes and breathed in deeply again._

He was brought back to the present when a hand slammed itself onto the table. Hack quirked an eyebrow at it before trailing his eyes up and looking at the owner.

Kevin was more than furious, “You aren’t even listening to me are you.” His voice dropped from the yelling to a dangerous hiss, “You go and let my best goddamn friend get kidnapped by some psycho and you don’t even care!” Kevin’s voice climbed as he reached the end of his sentence.

Hack watched Kevin for a few more moments before glancing to Nazz. He was right in that she had been listening to his and the Dr.’s conversation. She knew where Hack stood on the whole situation and he didn’t really care. If she wasn’t doing anything to inform Kevin then why should he?

The brunet sighed through his nose before standing up and going to his, well, Nathan’s room. He was aware of the other two following him. Hack picked up the laptop and disconnected his bunny flash drive before pocketing it and glancing around the room.

It was only just a little while ago when he had been sleeping (against his will) in Nathan’s arms. It was a little while ago that his bandages (against. his. will.) had been taken care of. It was a little while ago that he took (Against his… well… fuck it.) comfort with Nathan while they watched what he went through in the compound.

Hack knew that all of that wasn’t against his will. His shoulder’s relaxed and he closed his eyes. He just needed to realize it. And now that he had…

Fuck it all to hell and back dry on a piece of fucking toast.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he was hearing Kevin still ranting about how stupid and undeserving he was of Nathan or some shit and he had had enough of it.

Hack turned and glared venomously at the red head, effectively shutting him up, “Listen, tampon head,” Not his best insult but he was working on the fly here, “I care about Nathan. So don’t get all high and mighty about how this is my fault.” Hack pushed the other out of his way and left the room. He didn’t need the distraction at the moment. He needed to clear his head before he went through with his rapidly forming plan.

Nazz and Kevin watched him go and were quiet for a few moments until Nazz broke it with a light snort.

Kevin whipped around to face her in shock.

She broke into a full giggle and not so lightly punched his shoulder, “’Tampon head.’” She shook her head and quickly got a hold of her emotions, “But seriously dude.” She waited until he looked back at her after rolling his eyes, “Don’t be such a dick.”

Kevin fisted his hands and looked towards the ceiling, “He doesn’t care about the situation!” He yell/whispered. He winced at the next punch that Nazz landed in the same spot. Kevin rubbed it and stepped back slightly, “Ow, fuck, what?”

Nazz glared and shook her head, “You didn’t hear him.” She sighed and ran a hand through her bangs and continued in a softer tone, “His voice broke when he yelled for the bastard not to shoot Nat.” With that she left to go search for Hack and try to get him to not do something stupid.

She had a feeling and usually they were right about these types of things. ‘ _Boys are so stupid_.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact! "Tampon head" is actually something I called one of my friends in high school because he said that he didn't think there were any more creative insults for red heads anymore.


	25. Chapter 25

So maybe his original plan of storming the area with figurative guns blazing wasn’t so good of any idea. Maybe Nazz was able to come up with a better plan so that he wouldn’t get himself kidnapped and tortured again.

And maybe he was glad for it.

Hack wasn’t used to working with emotions. He had built so many walls against that type of thing for a reason. Hack and Nathan’s relationship was completely new to the brunet and he didn’t know how to control the churning feeling in his stomach.

He had done so many missions that the feeling of nervousness was almost completely gone. Hack always knew what he was walking into, he always had a plan. But even now, he had a plan and knew what was most likely going to happen, he still felt sick to his stomach.

It was a very disconcerting feeling for him.

Kevin had been a little bit too angry with him to talk civilly and Nazz ended up telling him to go see the Eds.

Hack was thankful for her at that moment. Even now as he was watching her set up her rifle and checking the coms he didn’t know why he was able to trust her in this moment.

Well, he didn’t trust her, he just knew that they had a common goal and if either one of them double crossed then they both would end up screwed. So he technically trusted the circumstances, not her.

He was glad he was able to sort that out before going down there in person. It was one less thing to think about.

Nazz glanced at him and nodded. He nodded back.

Hack turned towards the compound and started walking. He ignored the pain in his body and pushed down the slight shakiness in his hands. Hack was going to need all of his focus for this.

The possibility of firing a weapon was slim but still there. He had a fleeting thought of what if he couldn’t aim right but ignored it. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t aim right because he was going to have to if it came down to it.

Hack schooled his features into impassiveness and broke through the tree line.

Dr. Grey was standing with Nathan in front of him and a knife to his neck, “Hello again James.”

The brunet stopped about thirty feet from the man and Nathan. The other assassin kept blinking and his gaze wasn’t focusing on anything. The Dr. looked like he was holding Nathan steady more than as a human shield.

‘ _He’s completely shielded._ ’ Came Nazz’s voice from the com.

Hack looked back to the older man, “I see you’ve drugged him.”

Dr. Grey smiled kindly and nodded, “Didn’t want him running off before we had the chance to meet.” He readjusted his grip on Nathan before continuing, “Unfortunately I wasn’t able to ask him about anything. Our meeting was going to cut it too close.”

Hack’s thumb twitched. He wanted to reach to his gun that was hidden on his back but he knew that the movement would be too slow to save Nathan. He had to wait for an opening.

The doctor sighed as if he was put out and watched Hack carefully, “I trust you didn’t bring anyone with you.”

Hack quirked one of his eyebrows, “I have trust issues, remember?” he said avoiding the question.

Dr. Grey just smiled, “So then what is so special about this one hmm?” he asked glancing down at the drugged assassin in his arms, “Was he the one who broke down the icy walls around your heart?”

Hack scoffed but didn’t take his eyes off of the man, “More like a stalker who didn’t know when to quit.” He had to keep the doctor’s attention and make him let down his guard. Unfortunately that meant small talk with the person that Hack abhorred most in the world.

Dr. Grey chuckled, “Interesting.” He tilted his head marginally and held the hacker’s stare.

The atmosphere around them became tense. As the seconds ticked by neither one of them moved or broke eye contact.

The doctor ended up breaking it with a light chuckled, “Am I going to get my information James?” He laid his head against Nathan’s and pressed the knife more firmly against his throat, “Or am I going to have to threaten him again.”

‘ _Almost in sights. Try to get him away from Nathan more._ ’

Hack glared and fisted his hands, “No need.” He slowly reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a flash drive, “All of it is on here.”

The doctor gave Hack an unimpressed look, “Really. That easy.” He slowly smiled, “You don’t think that both of you would get out of here do you?”

Hack’s grip tightened on the flash drive, “Of course not. You were very specific about it being an exchange.”

The blonde straightened his stance, “You’re willing to go back into that room and be subject to torture again?”

‘ _Only his shoulder is a viable target, should I go?_ ’

Hack knew that she purposefully asked when it was a yes or no answer. He went through dozens of scenarios in the span of two seconds and minutely shifted his stance.

“Yes.”

A gunshot echoed through the air and the doctor stumbled back with a surprised noise. He dropped Nathan in the process to hold his right shoulder where the pain had flared up. He looked back at Hack only to catch the assassin aiming and shooting.

The area was quiet after that with no movement. Hack stood up from his crouched position and quickly went to Nathan’s side. He spared a glance towards the doctor who now had a hole in his head before maneuvering the teal haired boy’s body so Hack could carry him.

He brought Nathan’s shoulder over his own and lifted with a light grunt. He heard Nathan mumble something (“ _That was pretty hot.”_ ) and kept in his urge to roll his eyes.

Another gunshot ran out followed by another which made Hack glance back towards the building. More people were running out with their own weapons to attack but Nazz was keeping them in the doorway.

‘ _You have a little bit of time before I have to change clips._ ’

Hack felt the pain from his ribs and knees and winced, “Didn’t know you were this fat Goldberg.” He half carried and half dragged the other assassin.

“M’not fat.”

“Uh huh.” Hack grunted out and felt sweat start to bead on his forehead. He blinked and looked to Nathan when he felt the weight shift and lighten.

Nathan was squinting and trying to hobble along to get away. He was holding onto Hack’s shirt and his other hand went to close by trees to keep balance.

Hack heard the gunfire pause for a few seconds before starting up again, “We’re close to the transport Nazz.” _Time to get the fuck out._

After a few more yards they got to the car, he pulled the door open and pushed Nathan into the backseat before securing his seatbelt. By the time he got into his own seat next to Nathan, Nazz was there and getting into the driver side.

They drove out onto the street and Hack was looking out the back to check for tails. It was a few moments before he registered that Nathan was giggling.

He locked eyes with Nazz through the mirror and then looked back down, “What?”

Nathan kept giggling through his explanation, “This gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Home James!’”

Hack’s face soured and he punched the other in the shoulder, hard. He only remembered that his wrist was still healed after the sharp pain went up his arm.

Nazz rolled her eyes at both of their wincing.

Boys were dumb.


	26. Chapter 26

Nazz had one of Nathan’s arms over her shoulder and an arm around his waist as she helped Hack carry the passed out assassin to his room. Hack had the same position on the opposite side.

Hack was grateful that she had ignored his slight grunt of pain as he tried to lift Nathan out of the backseat by himself at first and accepted her help with a nod. His various injuries were hurting a lot more now that his adrenaline rush had finally run out.

They both unceremoniously dropped Nathan onto the bed and halfheartedly arranged the blankets and pillows. Nazz kept looking at Hack through the corner of her eye to make sure he wouldn’t suddenly keel over as well.

He had started looking worse for wear about halfway to Nathan’s place and she knew that he didn’t have a lot of time before he hit the brick wall of exhaustion.

She also knew that he would deny any statement of fact from her about his condition. So she would have to be sly about it, “We don’t know what he was drugged with, someone will probably have to stay with him until he wakes up enough to talk to us.”

She let the silence hang for a moment before continuing, “I should check in with Kevin and let him know that we got Nat out. Would you mind taking shifts?”

Hack shook his head, “It’s fine, I don’t have a place for now, I can stay.” He glanced back at her after assessing the knocked out man, “You should go home and check in with yours.”

Nazz nodded, “I suppose M. would be worried right now.” She said more to herself. She looked up and blinked at the small smirk the hacker was wearing. Nazz glared good-naturedly and rolled her eyes, “Oh shut up.” Of course he would already know about Marie. She left after that and smiled to herself knowing that it worked.

Now she would just wait until he crashed to leave strong pain killers on the table in the room.

Hack watched her go and then looked back to Nathan. He gingerly crossed his arms over his chest and lightly tapped his fingers against his arm. The brunet was in a bit of pain and he felt run down. Hack sat down on the side of the bed and let himself go deep into thought about the two of them.

Nathan Goldberg had staged a rescue mission to get Hack out of the ACS headquarters. With basically no chance of getting back out. No proof that Hack was even still alive. Nathan had ran the risk of getting caught himself chasing down a fragment of information just to get Hack out.

And then there was Hack.

Hack had just organized a rescue mission. His face out there for all to see, an exchange where the partner he had could have very well abandoned him and let him get caught and killed. Hack was willing to be taken in Nathan’s place and what’s more… he didn’t regret it.

The assassin winced as a small pain spiked up from his chest. Maybe sitting slightly hunched wasn’t good for his fractured ribs. Hack glanced down to Nathan and hesitated before lying down beside him.

He kept his gaze on the relaxed face as he made himself comfortable and curled on his side carefully. There was a foot of space between them now.

Hack openly stared, trying to figure out everything that had happened in the past few months:

From the incessant pestering, through emails, to the almost getting caught in a trap, to running together(ish), to the sort of fight in his apartment, and then to the rescues.

And when he came to his conclusion he wasn’t as surprised as he figured he should have been. He had feelings for Nathan. Feelings that made his stomach drop at the thought of the other getting killed, feelings that made him question motives behind thoughtless actions on both of their parts.

The crease between his eyebrows that was present for the last twenty minutes had eased when he realized this.

Hack was oddly okay with having feelings for the other assassin.

Sure Nathan actually chose to be an assassin but what kind of kid with a good childhood would choose it? Nathan had to be fucked up in some kind of way.

And Hack knew that he was very fucked up as well. Their particular brands of screwy-ness just happened to mix (after a liberal amount of shaking anyways.)

The hacker slowly slid his hand over the bedspread and gently entangled their fingers together. Maybe they were fucked up. But maybe they could make it work too.

With this last thought Hack closed his eyes and relaxed fully into sleep and for the first time in a long time he felt safe as well as secure.

And if he woke up surrounded in warmth with a constant movement of a thumb on his shoulder again, he wouldn’t complain this time.

After all the third time’s the charm, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this and I absolutely love assassins aus.  
> <3 Thanks for reading!


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